More than Just Friends
by CSFiReFoX
Summary: They were best friends ever since they were little, but as they grow up, will things still be the same between them? Rating changed for future chapters. MioxRitsu
1. Chapter 1: Childhood - Part 1

**A/N:** This is my first time writing a story, so please bear with some of the mistakes that I've done. BTW, this story is written on my small notebook for a long time. Forgive me if my grammar sucks a bit. Anyways, enjoy reading everyone! :D

**Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On! or any of its characters, etc, etc.

* * *

**More than Just Friends**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Childhood - Part 1**

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** Ritsu and Mio always played at their school's playground when they were in Elementary School, after they first met. Then...

* * *

_After class.._

"Hey Mio-chan!" Ritsu shouted in their classroom, running towards Mio, her friend.

"H-hey.. don't shout. You're attracting attention from our other classmates." Mio said, blushing while hiding in her small story book, averting her gaze from her other classmates who turned their heads towards Ritsu and her.

"Yeah. I know, I know. Do you wanna play with me at the playground?" Ritsu said while ignoring gazes from the other pupils, grinning.

"Hm.." Mio placed her small hand under her chin, thinking if she still have time to play. "Okay, but not for too long.. You know how my parents get easily worried when I'm not home on time." Mio said.

"Okay then, if ya say so!" Ritsu grinned again and took Mio's hand with hers, forcefully dragging her to the playground.

"W-wait Ricchan! My story book!" Mio widened her eyes as she dropped her story book, because of Ritsu's sudden action.

"Ah! Sorry about it.. ehehehe.." Ritsu sweatdropped when she realized she dragged her friend forcefully, scratching the back of her head with her free hand.

Ritsu then let go of Mio so that Mio can pick up her book on the floor.

"C'mon, hurry up!"

"Wait..okay done." Mio placed her story book under her desk, her story book storage, to be exact.

"Yosh! Let's go!" Ritsu grabbed Mio's hand again and went for the playground. Little Ritsu stole a glance at her shy companion, 'She's blushing.. Interesting... very interesting!' Ritsu exclaimed in her mind.

* * *

_At the playground..._

Ritsu ran to the sandbox, still holding holding Mio's hand.

"And.. jump!" Ritsu exclaimed, excited as ever.

"Eeeeh?!" Mio's shocked, she didn't even know that they're gonna jump.

After that, Ritsu landed successfully, while Mio tripped on the edge of the sandbox.

"Kyah!" Mio yelped. Ritsu caught her on time.

"..." Mio's speechless. Ritsu caught her on her arms, almost loosing balance due to the impact.

Mio blushed beet red, getting off from Ritsu as fast as she can.

"Pfft.. Bhahahaha!" Ritsu laughed out loud when she saw Mio's blushing face.

...THUMP!

"Stop laughing!" Mio scowled at Ritsu while in the verge of tears. Ritsu on the other hand, bit her tongue and massages her bump on the head.

"Itaii! You don't need to hit me that hard, y'know?" Ritsu pouted, stopping her laughter.

"S-sorry.." Mio bowed her head down for forgiveness.

Ritsu looked at Mio, 'Yep, she's really interesting alright.' Ritsu thought.

"Nah.. it's okay, I mean, I'm pretty sure you're gonna do this many times in the future, right?" Ritsu chuckled and grinned, putting her hands behind her head.

"Anyways, enough chit-chat, I wanna play now."

"Okay."

* * *

"Hahaha!" Mio and Ritsu bursted into laughter. They've been playing for 1 hour now.

"Haha- Ah! W-w-what time is it now?" Mio's eyes widened. She lost track of time, since they're building sand castles but it ended up being ruined.

"Uh.. I don't even know. Hehehe..." Ritsu sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head.

"Oh no! M-my parents will get worried at me! R-Ricchan, I need to go now!"

"Mio-chan, w-wait!"

Ritsu chased Mio, since Ritsu's already tired, same with Mio, they panted and stopped running.

"Huff.. huff.. Why do we even need to run?" Ritsu whined.

"I-it's because my parents will be so worried about m-me!" Mio almost cried.

"C'mon! I'll take ya there fast!" Ritsu grinned, flashing her thumbs up.

"B-but how?" Mio widened her eyes, it's impossible for Ritsu to take her at her house fast because she's already tired from chasing her.

"No worries!"

With that, Ritsu piggybacked Mio.

"I didn't know you're that strong!" Mio's eyes widened with a hint of amazement on her face.

"W-w-wha-!"

Ritsu ran at high speed, startling her raven-haired companion.

"Di-didn't y-you said be-before t-t-that you're t-tired?!" Mio panicked, tears forming in her eyes as she shut both of it close.

"Yeah, but I gained energy after a few seconds!" Ritsu said, eyebrows knitting together as she ran fast while carrying her heavy companion.

"B-but how?" 'Is that even possible?' Mio mused.

"Well, during times like this, I can feel my energy back 'cause its a bit important right now!" Ritsu exclaimed as some of her sweat started trickling down her chin.

"M-maybe that's whay they call a-adrenaline rush. I read something about that i-in my Science book." Mio's voice shaked, due to Ritsu's running.

"You can just call it like that, yeah!" 'I wonder what will happen if Mio-chan isn't at home on time? Will they slap her butt if she did? Well, that's what my parents do to me when I'm home late, so... yeah.' Ritsu thought.

"Ne Mio-chan, are we there yet?" Ritsu panted, getting tired as she started to run slower.

Mio, feeling that Ritsu's starting to run slower, opened her eyes and said, "We're almost there."

After a few minutes of running to jogging, they've finally arrived at the Akiyama residence.

"Whew! Finally, we're here at last!" Ritsu exclaimed as she dropped Mio carefully. After that, she gasped for some air and wiped some of her sweat with her arm.

"Ricchan, t-thank you.." Mio said, blushing at the 'thank you' part.

"Ah, no prob!" Ritsu waved her hand in response, plastering her trademark grin.

"Ano.. aren't you going to go home y-yet?" Mio asked curiously at her brunette companion, tilting her head in question.

"Eh-um.. no. I wanna see what the inside of your house looks like, since you've already been to my house." Ritsu said.

"O-okay then."

Then they proceeded to the gate of the house, Mio reaches for her pocket and opens it with her key, thus opening the gate. Ritsu followed suit as Mio gestured to follow her. After that, Mio knocked on the door. Someone opens the door, revealing a slightly tall black-haired woman, presumably in her early-30's.

"Ah Mio-chan! Okairi!" Mio's mom said as she kneeled and hugged her daughter. Mio hugged back.

Once Mio's mom let go of the hug, she glanced curiously at little Ritsu. "Ah and who might this be?"

"I'm Tainaka Ritsu, but you can just call me Ritsu!" Ritsu grinned at Mio's mom, placing her small hands at the back of her head, yet again.

"Oh my! So you're the one my little Mio-chan talks about often, eh?" Mio's mom smiled warmly at Ritsu.

"M-mama.." Mio let go of the hug as well due to embarrassment.

"Ara ara. My name is Akiyama Midori, Ricchan." Midori smiled again at both of them.

"Just come on in, Ricchan. I'm cooking some stew right now, so feel free to stay here if you'd like." Midori gestured Ritsu to come in.

Right after that, Ritsu took of her shoes, same with Mio. Then they went straight toward Mio's room upstairs.

Mio turned her room's knob and flicked the lights on, revealing a small round table, stuffed toys in the corner, loads of books on the shelf next to Mio's small bed with a small stuffed bunny toy, and a small study desk with a small study chair. Some of its walls are decorated with girlish stickers, and a light bulb, of course.

"Woah! This is awesome! I wish I have a room this big!" Ritsu exclaimed, [1]ridiculously happy when she fixed her gaze right away at the rather big stuffed toys in the corner.

"I-it's not really that big for me." Mio blushed at her friends compliment, embarrassed at the same time.

"Really? I don't believe it!" Ritsu said as she picked one of the stuffed toys, a fox plushie. "Man, I like this one 'cause it's a fox, like me!" Ritsu exclaimed, her grin getting wider as she held on the fox toy.

"I got that from my mom last year." Mio said, approaching her drawer and took out a towel. "Here, for your sweat, Ricchan."

"Ah. Thanks!" Ritsu took the towel from Mio, her grin never leaving her face, dropping the fox plushie on the round table. She started wiping her sweat with the towel. Mio, on the other side, started to blush as she saw Ritsu's grin again.

As soon as she finished wiping her sweat, she hanged it on her shoulder and looked at Mio again. 'She's cute when she's blushing like that.' Ritsu mused.

Amber eyes met gray ones...

Ritsu's gaze fixed on Mio's eyes. 'Her eyes are beautiful, just like her hair.'

Mio, on the other hand, looked at her companion's amber eyes. She felt her cheeks burning when she stared at them for a while. 'Yellow, just like the fox's eyes.' Mio thought.

Not long after that...

"Ricchan, Mio-chan! The stew is ready!" Midori called from downstairs.

Mio broke the staring contest, she flinched and blushed yet again and answered, "I'm coming, Mama!" 'That was a bit embarrassing..'

Ritsu answered as well, "Comin' down!" 'What the hell just happened, she just stared back at me!' Ritsu thought.

"S-should we head down now?"

"Yep!"

* * *

_Downstairs..._

"Oh, so that's what happened eh?" Midori said after Ritsu told her that she piggybacked Mio and ran to their house to avoid Mio from being late.

"Yeah.. ehehehe.." Ritsu scratched the back of her head as she continued eating with her chopsticks.

"Thank you Ricchan, if she were late right now, our Otosan would scold her." Midori answered back. Mio just listened intently at her mom's words.

"Soyaba, Mio-chan, where is your Otosan right now?" Ritsu asked her friend.

"Eh! Um.. a-ano.." Mio averted her gaze from Ritsu and stared at her mom.

"He's working right now, so he'll be home late tonight, as usual." Midori sighed as she answered for Mio when she can't answer quickly to Ritsu's question.

Ritsu's mouth only formed an "O" when Midori answered.

"Ricchan, are you staying here for tonight?" Midori asked, curious if Ritsu's gonna stay for now.

"Sorry Akiyama-san, but I need to go home after this. My mom will get mad if I don't. Hehe.." Ritsu answered with her apologetic grin.

"Hm.. well why don't I text your mother to inform them that you're staying with us for tonight. It's getting a bit late because it's already 8:00 p.m. right now and it's pretty dangerous for a small child to walk alone at night, right?" Midori suggested as she smiled.

"Yeah! Sounds like a great idea, Akiyama-san!" Ritsu cheered because Midori just saved her from danger.

"Do you know your mother's number?" Midori asked again, her idea seemingly falling to pieces.

"Well, I do have my mother's number written on a piece of paper and she told me to have it in case I can't get back home on time." Ritsu shoved her hand in her pocket, searching for an outline of a folded piece of paper.

"Here!" Ritsu found it and handed it to Midori.

"Okay! I'll inform her right away." Midori stood up and went for the living room to look for her cellphone.

"Isn't that great Mio-chan? I'm finally going to have my first sleepover at someone's house!" Ritsu jumped up and down due to excitement.

"Y-yeah." Mio smiled at her, still eating her unfinished food with chopsticks.

* * *

_At the living room..._

Midori continued reviewing her message to Ritsu's mom before sending.

_'To: Ritsu's mother_

_Good evening and excuse me for the sudden message, your daughter Ritsu is staying over her friend's house until tomorrow, since it's pretty late and dangerous for her to go home right now. She took care of my Mio-chan and sprinted to our house to avoid her from being late for our curfew rule. Thank you for understanding._

_Mio's mother,_  
_Midori Akiyama'_

After that, she pressed sent.

* * *

_Tainaka residence, living room_

A dark-brown haired woman, Ritsu's mom, Hitomi Tainaka stood up from her seat at the living room, starting to get worried because her little Ritsu isn't home yet, until...

_*bzzt bzzt bzzt*_

Hitomi reached for her cellphone and flipped it open, revealing the label "Midori Akiyama", she opened the message and it said that Ritsu will be staying over the Akiyama residence until tomorrow. She sighed in relief and is familiar with the Akiyamas and sent the messager a reply.

_'To Akiyama residence_

_Good evening. Thank goodness my daughter is safe, thank you for taking care of my little Ritsu tonight. Since it's Saturday tomorrow, I'm expecting her to go home at 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. Thank you again, Midori!_

_Ritsu's mother,_  
_Hitomi Tainaka'_

"Honey! Our Ritsu's gonna be having her first sleepover at Mio-chan's house. She helped Mio-chan to avoid her from being late for her own curfew. That's our Ricchan!" Hitomi smiled as she said that to her husband, Ryota Tainaka, who's a tall man with short light brown hair as he continued to watch news and replied, "When she gets back I'm gonna suprise her with a fox toy, since she likes foxes so much."

Hitomi giggled.

* * *

**A/N:** Gonna end this chapter now, since it's pretty long haha! Chapter 2's gonna be the part II of this, so that I can write more about Ritsu and Mio's childhood days.

[1]Ridiculously Happy - a music from Owl City. Do check it out yo!

Well, since Ritsu does look a bit like a fox, I intended to give her the personality to like foxes. Just like me. :D

Anyways, please review this chapter, helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!

Peace! Arf!


	2. Chapter 2: Childhood - Part 2

**A/N:** Sup? I'm back. I managed to write the next chappie after the last one cuz my ideas are still lingering in my mind, so yeah. I decided to finish it and publish it now. Anyways, enjoy reading y'all.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On! or its characters, etc, etc.

* * *

**More than Just Friends**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Childhood - Part 2**

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**Chapter Summary:** Ritsu ended up staying over at Mio's house because it's pretty late. What happens next?

* * *

_At the Akiyama household..._

"Ricchan, Mio-chan, I've prepared the bath for both of you." Midori said as she left the bathroom door open.

"W-wait.. we're gonna take a bath? Both of us?" For the first time, Ritsu blushed a bit about the thought of her and Mio taking a bath together.

"Mama.. a-are you serious?" Mio blushed harder than Ritsu since she could already feel her ears burning.

"Of course, so that after you both take a bath, you two are directly going to sleep.' Midori said, not feeling the two children's embarrassment.

'I can finally sleep right after I'm done with the hard part, which is taking a bath with Mio.. naked.' Ritsu thought and sighed deeply.

"Well.. as long as after this, I'm going to sleep, Akiyama-san." Ritsu half-agreed and half-declined at the same time.

Mio only took the chance to nod slowly, agreeing with Ritsu's statement.

"Well, while you two take a bath, I'm going to prepare your clothes Ricchan." Midori smiled warmly at the two little kids.

* * *

_At the bathroom..._

"Ah... it's so refreshing!" Ritsu took the chance to dip her body in the warm water on the tub. She closed her eyes and is starting to get sleepy.

"R-Ricchan, you can't sleep in there." the other girl said shyly as she began to scrub her hair with shampoo while sitting on a small chair. 'Ricchan looks cute with her hair down.'

"I'm expecting you to say the same thing when you start dippin' your body here." Ritsu pouted as she watched her companion shyly scrubbing her body with a soap. 'Hm.. looks like I'm starting to get used to the fact I'm taking a bath together with her. Wow.. her hair is so beautiful.' She mused.

"Hm?" Mio only glanced at Ritsu, tilting her head in question.

"Don't believe me? Fine! C'mere and see for yourself." Ritsu drowned her head afterwards.

'What did she just say?' Mio froze on her spot, because Ritsu just asked her to come with her in the tub. She rinsed herself with warm water from the telephone shower. Slowly but surely she stood up, hiding her chest with her arm and took a peek at Ritsu, who in return didn't resurfaced on the water just yet.

'Still don't believe me, eh? Fine, let's do it in a hard way. Hehehe...' Ritsu smirked while underwater, scheming another evil plan.

"R-Ricchan?" Mio stuttered and feared that Ritsu is already dead. Tears are starting to form in Mio's eyes.

"BOO!" Ritsu quickly stood up and grabbed the raven-haired girl's waist, lifted her, then dropped her in the tub.

"Kyah!" Mio squealed and fell on the tub, spilling too much water in the process.

"Hahaha! Your face is priceless! Haha!" Ritsu couldn't contain it as she laughed out loud in the bathroom, thus echoing loudly, making the other girl blush madly and as expected...

...THUD!

"Ouchie!" Ritsu whimpered as she continued to rub her second bump of the day.

"Serves you right!" Mio crossed her arms and huffed as she turned her head to the side.

"Uhuhuhu..." Ritsu groaned as she took a sit slowly on the tub, her whole body pained due to the impact.

"Ah! D-did I hit you that hard? S-sorry Ricchan!" Mio bowed as she closed her eye shut, feeling embarrassed of her sudden action.

"Don't worry about it, 'cause I kinda expected that to happen." Ritsu flashed Mio her reassuring grin. Mio took a sit on the tub, gathering her legs and rested her head on her knees.

As for Mio, she blushed harder and avoided to look at Ritsu.

Silence engulfed a minute and then...

"So? Whaddya think? It's refreshing isn't it?" Ritsu said as she placed her hands on her head, ignoring the fact that they're on a tub, naked.

For a minute, Mio just found the warm water interesting to distract herself from earlier, she snapped her head up and nodded shyly. "Yeah, it is refreshing."

Mio still couldn't stop imagining the fact that she is taking a bath with her friend.

"Told ya." Ritsu chuckled and closed her eyes to feel the warm sensation cross over her body. She sighed in contentment.

After a few minutes of just sitting, Ritsu finally spoke. "Well, should we dry ourselves now?" She stood up and took the towel on the towel rack and started drying herself.

Mio followed suit, also getting her towel and dried herself up and unclogged the bath tub.

"You two, I prepared your panjamas!" Midori finally exclaimed while upstairs.

"Well, gotta go dress up now." Ritsu wrapped her towel on her body and started walking upstairs. 'Hah! that was fun!' She thought.

Mio just followed her friend and thought, 'Are we gonna sleep together or is Ritsu gonna sleep on the futon?'

* * *

_Upstairs..._

"Ah Ricchan, I've got something to tell you." Midori leaned closer to Ritsu and whispered something. 'I'm pretty sure that I've got spare panties about your size so don't feel embarrassed, okay? And you know what Ricchan? You look cute with your hair down just like that.' Midori smiled knowingly at Ritsu while she just blushed and nodded in return.

Mio just raised both of her eyebrows at the two.

"You two get dressed now, okay? I'm going to wash the dishes first." Midori then excused herself and went downstairs.

"So.. uh.. who goes first, me or you?" Ritsu asked, feeling nervous.

"H-how about you go first, R-Ricchan?" Mio averted her eyes, feeling embarrassed to go first.

"Sure thing, since I dress up pretty fast!" Ritsu grinned and went inside Mio's room to get dressed up.

* * *

_After one minute..._

"Done!" Ritsu burst out off the door, startling Mio.

"Oh! Sorry Mio! Got a lil' carried away. Ehehehe.." Ritsu grinned sheepishly at her while scratching the back of her head. 'Why do these pajamas give me the itchy feeling?' she thought as she looked at her purple pajamas with rainbow patterns and unicorns.

Soon after, Mio just finally recovered and gazed at her friend. 'Those panjamas doesn't suit her, but atleast it fitted her well.' she thought.

Then, Mio just nodded and went inside to get dressed as well.

* * *

_After 10 minutes..._

'Man.. what's taking her so long?!' Ritsu thought impatiently as she leaned on Mio's door, groaning.

Then, the door just opened, making Ritsu lose her balance and fall.

"Whaa-!" Ritsu exclaimed and widened her eyes.

She fell on her back, but in the end she still grinned.

"Ah-ah! Sorry Ricchan! I didn't noticed!" Mio started crying like a baby.

Ritsu stood up and patted Mio on the back.

"There, there.. don't cry 'cause I'm still okay. And besides, it makes me feel bad if you start cryin'. Heh." Ritsu grinned and soon enough, Mio stared at Ritsu and starts to blush.

'Is she blushing again? Geez. Oh wait, she wears the same pajamas like mine!' Ritsu retrieved her hands from Mio's back and stared scratching her back.

"Itchy-itch! Ack!" Ritsu furiously scratched her back as she started to imagine rainbows and unicorns and stuff.

"Eh? W-why are you doing that just now?" Mio eyed Ritsu curiously as she stopped sobbing.

"Ah-! it's just that.. I can't stand too much corny stuff!" Ritsu said between her scratches.

"..." Mio stood silent and just watched her friend.

As soon as Ritsu stopped scratching her back, she said, "So, why don't we ask your mom on how we're gonna sleep for t'night?" Ritsu suggested.

"Okay.." Mio went downstairs and Ritsu followed her.

* * *

_Downstairs..._

"Mama, is Ricchan gonna sleep on the futon or on my bed?" Mio asked curiously as her mom dried her hands on the towel by the refrigerator.

"Oh, do you want to sleep on Mio-chan's bed, Ricchan?" Midori asked Ritsu as she placed her small hands on her chin.

'Well, if I do sleep with Mio tonight, I might end up imagining unicorns again and I don't want to have my body to itch again, so...'

"Akiyama-san, I want to sleep in the futon because it's my first time and I'm not used to it." Ritsu chuckled awkwardly and scratches the back of her head.

"Oh, okay Ricchan if you say so. The futon's inside the door next to the living room, so Mio-chan can you guide our Ricchan to get the futon?" Midori ordered her daughter as she smiled at them for the countless time.

"Okay mama." 'W-well, I can't blame Ricchan because we just took a bath together, so maybe she's feeling embarrassed just like me.' Mio said and thought as she went for the door next to the living room.

Ritsu just followed Mio curiously.

'Their house is pretty big.' Ritsu thought as she eyed every part of the house downstairs, amused.

"Here it is, Ricchan." Mio stopped walking and pointed at the door in front of them.

"Oh! I wonder what's inside besides the futon?" Ritsu's eyes are sparkling as soon as she opened the door, she got avalanched by the stack of futons.

Mio stared at her in horror, eyes widened.

"Ughf! I fof theref somfin elfs exfef the futonf!" (Ugh! I thought there's something else except the futons!) Ritsu said as she struggled to get off and her voice got muffled by the stack of futons on top of her.

'C-can't breathe!' Ritsu soon popped her head out and breathed heavily.

"Mio, don't just stand there! Help me get out!" Ritsu exclaimed.

As soon as Mio heard that, she picked up one futon after another and placed them beside Ritsu.

"Whew! I thought I'm gonna die in there!" Ritsu then stood up and said, "How many visitors do you get here 'cause there's too many of 'em." Ritsu pouted as she placed the futons back inside the room and Mio just blushed.

"W-well, my mama said that in case some of the f-futons are being used, there's a-always a spare one or two." Mio stuttered as she thought, 'Ritsu's right, Mama. Why are there too many futons if there aren't that many visitors here sometimes..'

As soon as they're finished stacking the futons back to place, Ritsu picked one of them and went upstairs. "Man, I wanna sleep so badly now 'cause I'm so tired!" Ritsu exclaimed to Mio as she closed the door and hurriedly followed Ritsu upstairs.

"R-Ricchan wait! If you run, you might fall again!" Mio said worriedly at Ritsu who's still carrying the futon.

"The futon isn't that heavy for me, ya know?" Ritsu then waited for Mio to open her bedroom.

"C'mon! I'm sleepy already! Open the door."

Mio opened the door and Ritsu hurriedly entered and placed the futon next to Mio's bed. "Ah Mio, do you have any spare pillows here?"

"I do have three of them." Mio said as she opened the drawer next to the door and pulled out three pillows. "Here, Ricchan."

"Ah, thanks Mio-chan!" Ritsu grinned at Mio as she placed one pillow on top of the futon, the other two next to her side.

"You two, you should go to sleep now. I'm turning the lights off now since Ricchan's here, you don't need to be scared of the dark, Mio-chan." Midori stated, as she placed her hand on the light switch.

Mio climbed on top of her bed and said, "O-okay. You can turn t-the lights off now Mama." Mio said as she's starting to get scared, imagining herself being in the dark.

"Good night, girls." Midori smiled as she turned off the lights and the two replied, "Good night, Mama/Akiyama-san!"

Midori closed the door. The whole room is dark, except from the faint light emitting from the curtains.

"I-it's too dark!" Mio squeaked a little and shivered.

"Don't worry Mio-chan! Im here, ya know?" Ritsu said, grinning but the other girl couldn't see it.

"Y-yeah..." Mio said quietly.

"Well, g'night!" Ritsu plopped herself on the futon, hugging one pillow while the other one is between her legs.

"G-good night, Ricchan." 'I can't sleep properly if it's too dark.." Mio positioned herself on her bed, hugging her pillow tightly... too tightly.

* * *

_After 30 minutes..._

'I c-can't sleep.. What if I ask Ricchan to sleep with her. No! Maybe she'll think I'm too much of a coward, but I'm going to try!' Mio thought as she got off from her bed and shaked Ritsu slowly to wake her up.

"H-hnmmm... er.. huh? Mio-chan, what's wrong?" Ritsu woke up and sat up on her futon, questioning the raven-haired girl. 'Don't tell me she's that much of a scaredy-cat?'

"I-I just.. uh.. I-I can't s-sleep b-because it's really d-dark.." Mio's starting to cry as she closed her eyes.

Mio felt Ritsu's arms around her body, she blushed hard.

"There, there.. it's okay Mio. You can sleep here with me if you want." Ritsu hugged her closer.

"R-really? Okay.." Mio stopped crying and enjoyed their little hug.

Ritsu let go and then patted the space next to her.

"Man, I'm sleepy 'cause of earlier." Ritsu yawned and laid her body on the futon.

"S-sorry.."

"What for?"

"F-for.." Mio's voice died down and continued, "for waking you up."

"Nah.. it doesn't matter as long as it'll help you, scaredy-cat." Ritsu grinned.

Mio then placed herself next to Ritsu and whispered, "Thank you, Ricchan."

They spent the night sleeping together in the futon.

Outside the room, Midori giggled silently as she watched the two sleeping.

'They've got a long way to go through...'

* * *

**A/N:** Welp, that's about it. The next chapter will be a bit different than the last two, so yeah. Leavin' y'all to think about it.

**Review Response:**

**Yukina-Tenma:** Haha, yeah. I intentionally thought when writing the story Ritsu will fall when she carried Mio, but it'll ruin the story's mood. Well, wolves would fit Ritsu but I want something different because I'm pretty sure that it's already implied in the other stories. (if possible)

Anyways, tell me what you think and please review this chapter, helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!

Peace! Arf!


	3. Chapter 3: Junior High

**A/N:** Sup, y'all? I'm back with a new chappie! I did told you guys that this time, it'll be a bit different but it wouldn't change the story's goal (summary), BTW. So just relax and enjoy this chap!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On! or its characters, etc, etc.

* * *

**More than Just Friends**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Junior High**

* * *

**Chapter Summary: **After three years, Ritsu and Mio entered the same school as they proceeded towards their Junior High lives. And then...

* * *

_Sakura Girls Junior High, Recess..._

"Oi! Mio!" Ritsu shouted. She is dressed in white blouse, a black vest and a black skirt, accompanied with a big green tie. After three years, Ritsu got a bit tall but Mio is still taller than her.

"Huh? What is it Ritsu?" Mio haven't stood up from her seat as she is studying a lesson they've all just discussed.

"Mio, aren't you gonna take a break?" Ritsu sat on Mio's desk as she examined the book Mio's reading, English. 'Geez... Come with me for a while and leave that hell of a book alone Mio!' Ritsu thought, annoyed.

"Sure, since I know that you're just gonna keep on nagging me if I refuse." Mio sighed and closed her book.

"Oh yeah! You know me well, Mio-chuan!" 'Yes! Serves you right, English book!' Ritsu smirked secretly.

Ritsu flashed Mio her signature grin and sprinted for the cafeteria. Mio rolled her eyes and followed her best friend.

* * *

_Second morning classes..._

"Man.. I'm gonna die if Kurosaki-sensei keeps on babbling about History." Ritsu sighed as she slumped onto her desk, bored.

"And so, after Japan had conquered South Korea, our country remained dominant and helped South Korea to stand on its own." Kurosaki Yamada, their History teacher, continued to scribble on the blackboard with a chalk as he supported it with his explanations.

Ritsu didn't listen to his explanations. 'Man, isn't there something to do.. oh wait, I know!' An idea crossed Ritsu's mind as she rummaged for something under her desk.

'Aha! This should work.' Ritsu took out her ballpen from her pocket and she started to draw things on a blank sheet of paper.

She drew a hunchbacked old lady, a bit cross-eyed as she supports herself with a cane, saying, "History sucks.." Ritsu chuckled inwardly, 'Heh.. I know it does..'

The old lady is soon followed with a drawing of a puppy and a fox.

'Hmm.. what if I draw a rabbit being aimed by a gun... I'm evil, heh.' Ritsu drew a rabbit and a man holding a shotgun, pointing it at the rabbit while it holds its hands up saying, "I'm too cute to die!"

"I'm just too epic for these things." Ritsu looked up and saw their teacher drawing the shape of Japan.

"I wonder if anyone had the guts to tell him that his drawing sucks." Ritsu sweatdropped as she looked for a certain raven-haired girl.

She saw Mio's head point up and down to write down notes and to look at the concept of the lesson.

'Man.. she never changed a bit, except calling me 'Ritsu' instead of 'Ricchan' when we're little.'

Mio suggested that since they're already in Junior High, they should start calling each other without the '-chan', so that they sound more mature.

'Mature, huh. Never wanna be one 'cause I'm gonna be who I wanna be.' Ritsu rested her head on her hand, her free hand tapping beats on her desk.

"Okay, class. You can have your lunch break now." Their teacher closed his book and went outside to the teachers' office.

"Whew! I survived the morning Doomsday! Now to get ready for the afternoon Apocalypse!" Ritsu pumped her fists in the air as some of her classmate stared at her weirdly, before someone chuckled and said,

"Ritsu, you're not the only one surviving, you know?" Akane Hayabusha, whose auburn hair is tied in low pigtails, her brown eyes gleaming because of the window's lights as she went to Ritsu's direction.

She is also known as 'Ritsu the second'.

"Hah! Atleast I survived harder than ya, hardcore!" Ritsu crossed her arms and smirked at Akane.

"Oh, is that so? Then how do you explain this, then?" Akane reached for the paper Ritsu drew on, shoving it in front of Ritsu's face.

"Ah! Err.. um.. t-that's just how epic I am when it comes to imagining things!" Ritsu started sweatdropping and scratched the back of her head.

"Well.. if you're really epic, why don't you just do what I do, like making airplanes and toss it around?" Akane stated rather victoriously as she folded Ritsu's paper into a paper plane.

"Nope. That's old school." Ritsu blocked Akane's statement as she went to Mio.

Mio, being the audience of the little competition she's watching, just chuckled lightly.

"H-hey! I'm not done here!" Akane blurted out as she looked at Ritsu walked and started talking with Mio.

'They're pretty close.. I wonder if it's good to drop in?' Akane thought.

* * *

_At the cafeteria..._

"Woah Mio! That octopus dumpling looks delicious! Mind if I take a bite?" Mio saw stars twinkling in Ritsu's face, she blushed.

"F-fine! As long as you won't ask for another one." Before Ritsu could reply, Mio shoved an octopus dumpling in Ritsu's mouth with her chopsticks.

After Ritsu finished chewing, she swallowed hard and said, "Hey! No fair. I was about to say 'No!', but you just forced me to it. But ah.. well. It tastes delicious anyway." Ritsu started wolfing down on her own food.

"Well, if you say 'No!' then I wouldn't have given you any." Mio rolled her eyes and started to eat her lunch.

"Ouch.. that hurts Mio, since you know I like octopus dumplings that much." Ritsu stated, feeling a bit hurt.

"W-well.. You can take another one, as long as I can have some of your rice balls." Mio said as she placed her dumpling on Ritsu's lunchbox, Ritsu did the same.

Meanwhile, Akane just watched from afar as she thought, 'Yosh! My plan is going to work!'

Akane approached the two as she wears that serious look on her face. "H-hey.. Ritsu, Mio-chan, mind if I eat with you guys? My other friends are busy with something, so I can't tag them along to eat with me." Akane said as she held onto her white lunchbox. 'It should work anytime now.'

Akane knew they would accept her since it's a little awkward to leave her alone.

"S-sure, Akane." Mio said shyly as she started to blush.

Ritsu on the other hand just stared at Akane competitively.

"Fine! As long as you say that I won our battle earlier." Ritsu smirked at Akane.

"Okay, you won, you won. So can I eat now?" Akane admitted defeat, waiting for Ritsu's response to let her sit with them.

"Kay. C'mere!" Ritsu grinned as she scooted to her side and patted the empty space beside her.

Akane's face is gleaming with happiness as she hurriedly sat next to Ritsu. "Thanks!"

"Heh! No prob." Ritsu continued to eat on her riceballs.

"Hmm.. you're the first one to actually join us for lunch, Akane." Ritsu said as she chomped down her riceball.

Mio, just went silent as she watched both Ritsu and Akane getting closer. 'Huh? What's this weird feeling in my tummy? Ugh..'

"Well, since I don't have anybody else to have lunch with, I decided to have lunch with you guys since I know you the most." Akane smiled as she opened her lunchbox, revealing five pieces of tempura with rice.

"Oh-oh! Are those tempuras?! Can I have some, Akane?" Ritsu's face brightened as she saw the tempuras on Akane's lunchbox.

Mio, on the other hand, saw Ritsu's face. 'That's what she looked like when she saw my dumplings.' Mio felt a bit sad and alone for not talking for a while.

"O-okay! Sure! Here ya go!" Akane handed Ritsu one of her tempura and Ritsu hurriedly swallowed it. Akane was shocked that someone can swallow a tempura that big.

"Mmm! Tastes good!" Ritsu exclaimed. Akane, recovering from the shock, said, "Geez. Ritsu, you shocked me. Are you a monster or something?" Akane sweatdropped as she took a bite of her lunch.

Mio, feeling that she's alone, finally spoke up, "Ah, don't worry A-Akane because she's like that all the time." Mio chuckled as she ate Ritsu's riceball on her lunchbox.

"Ah, is that so? Well.. looks like my first impression about you is right, Ritsu!" Akane grinned as she laughed victoriously.

"W-wha-! Not all the time, y'know?" Ritsu pouted and looked at Mio, "Mio-chuan, do I look like a monster to you?" Ritsu said sadly.

'Looks like she doesn't get the joke at all, what a dense of an idiot.' Mio sighed and said, "No, it's just a joke Ritsu."

Ritsu, hearing everything Mio said, glared at Akane and spoke up,"You tricked me Akane! You'll get my revenge later!" Ritsu stood up and positioned herself like one of the sumo wrestlers and aimed one of her hands at Akane.

Akane also stood up and mimicked Ritsu's action and said in a very low voice, "Then we'll settle our fight later, Tainaka-san!"

In the end, both of them felt stupid and laughed.

'Those two are getting along quite well, but I feel like I'm being left alone...' Mio thought sadly. 'No, no! I've got to get rid of my bad thoughts! I mean, Ritsu said the more, the merrier right?...'

After that, Ritsu sensed something wrong, then she looked at Mio. Worry's starting to conquer Ritsu's emotion.

"Mio, is something wrong? You look kinda.. off today." Ritsu spoke softly, hesitating to say the 'off' part.

Mio got washed over by negativity. She ignored both Ritsu and Akane, packed her lunchbox to its small bag and walked away.

"Huh? What just happened?" Akane has no idea of what just happened, turned her head to Ritsu. 'I just planned on being friends with them..'

"..." Ritsu said nothing. 'Is there something wrong of what we just did?'

After classes ended for the day, Mio didn't spoke to Ritsu or Akane.

Mio went home early.

* * *

_Tainaka household..._

"Argh! She didn't even talked to me when classes ended! What's with her?!" Ritsu groaned and laid her body on her bed.

She crossed her arms behind her head and looked at the plain, white ceiling.

'I wonder what's with her? Why did she just left us like that? Hm.. maybe she's having problems?..' Ritsu continued to ponder until..

"Should I call her?.. Yep, maybe I should." Ritsu got from her bed and picked up her phone from the small table next to her bed.

She opened it and started to scroll for Mio's number, and then..

"Ah! Here it is! Well.. here goes nothin'!" She pushed the call button and placed it on her ear.

Beep.. Beep.. No answer...

Ritsu sighed and placed her phone back to the table.

"Guess I should just ask her about it tomorrow..." Ritsu removed her headband and placed it on the table, deciding to turn in for the day.

* * *

_The next day... Saturday._

Ritsu woke up rather early, she checked her clock just above her bed. "6:35 a.m.. Looks like it's still early, but I have to go to Mio's place by now!"

She jumped off her bed and scratched her bed hair. She looked at herself in a mirror and thought, 'It's pretty messy. I look like one of those who cosplay anime heroes.' She grinned to herself and opened her wardrobe.

Ritsu dressed herself up with a yellow hoodie with a white t-shirt, and knee-length pants. She scanned for her yellow headband, but to no avail...

"Darn! I can't find my headband! Where the heck is it?!" Ritsu panicked as she rummaged her whole room just to find her yellow headband. 'I'm pretty sure that I placed it on the table, but now it's gone!'

"Oh wait.. I do have other ones here, but I'm pretty sure it's small now." She pulled her cabinet's knob and found some other headbands, which are small compared to her yellow one.

"Just as what I've thought." Ritsu sweatdropped and continued, "But I look weird without my headband!" Ritsu looked at herself in a mirror.

Ritsu groaned and decided to give up. She then went downstairs to eat breakfast.

* * *

_At the kitchen..._

"Mom? Have you seen my headband anywhere?" Ritsu called out to her mom and took a seat as she watched her banter back and forth while cooking some omelets.

"I haven't seen it anywhere except on your head." Hitomi stated, sighing as she questioned her, "Where have you placed it, Ricchan? I'm pretty sure that you won't lose it that easily."

"I placed it on my table last night, but now it's gone!" Ritsu groaned again, scratching her head in annoyance.

Ryota, Ritsu's dad, finally spoke up after looking up from his newspaper, "Maybe it's just under your bed, Ricchan? Who knows, maybe Satoshi pranked you again and hid it somewhere around your room."

'Wha-! Satoshi? Oh yeah! Maybe he did pranked me again without knowing it.' Ritsu stood up and went upstairs before thanking her dad for mentioning Satoshi.

* * *

_Upstairs..._

*Knock knock knock*

Ritsu knocked on Satoshi's door, but she got no response.

Ritsu knocked harder, until...

"Ow! Neechan! Why'd you do that? Satoshi asked his sister as he rubbed his forehead.

"Oops, sorry. I just knocked on your head without noticing, heh." Ritsu grinned as she patted Satoshi's head.

After that, Ritsu spoke again, "Hey Satoshi, you didn't hid my headband somewhere right?" Ritsu looked annoyed and glared at Satoshi, he just flinched.

"E-eh?! Um.. no I-I didn't. Ehehehe.." Satoshi stuttered as his eyes never left Ritsu's ones. 'Neechan looks weird without her headband and the feelings just changed all of a sudden!' Satoshi refers to when his sister just patted his head but all of a sudden she glared daggers at him.

Ritsu, knowing that he'll answer her like that, said, "Oh really? Then why are you stuttering, anyway?" Ritsu squinted her eyes and poked Satoshi's head.

Satoshi couldn't find himself to answer her sister's question, because she's glaring straight to his soul.

But in the end, "Okay, okay. I hid it in my room. I decided to prank on you because you tripped me last week." Satoshi sighed in defeat and motioned her sister to come in.

"It's hidden under my bed, by the way." Satoshi said as he pointed to his bed.

"Hm.. fair enough. I did tripped you with my feet." Ritsu grinned as she went inside and went to Satoshi's bed.

Ritsu moved the boxes under his bed aside, but as expected...

"Satoshi! You said that it's here right?" Ritsu glared at Satoshi again as she's looking for a staight answer.

"I swear, sis! I just placed it in there!" Satoshi is afraid that her sister would chokehold him to death.

"Well.. from the looks of it, yer really tellin' the truth." Ritsu's eyes softened and decided to give it up, for real.

* * *

Ritsu finished eating her breakfast, then she wiped her mouth clean with her arm. She hurriedly put on her shoes before saying goodbye to her parents.

Ritsu decided to go to Mio's house, in case she feels better from what just happened yesterday.

After running for a few minutes, she panted and placed her hands on her knees and breathed heavily.

She looked up and saw Mio's house not from afar.

"Finally!" Ritsu recovered and sprinted to Mio's house. The gate's open so she just walked towards the front door.

Before pressing the doorbell, the door opened, revealing Mio in the doorway.

"Oh, Mio! Sup?" Ritsu grinned and waved her hand to greet her best friend.

Mio showed no signs of what she did yesterday, so she just decided to ask her a question.

"Ritsu? What brings you here?" Mio decided to play dumb as she tilted her head in question. 'Wait! Why isn't she wearing her headband?'

"We've got things to talk about." Ritsu answered her straightly and her face is serious about it.

'And I've thought that you're really stupid to notice it, idiot.' Mio thought as she led Ritsu inside the house.

* * *

_Meanwhile in the Tainaka household..._

Hitomi and Satoshi went inside Ritsu's room and retrieved the headband from one of the boxes under Ritsu's bed.

"It's a good thing that I hid it for a while.. Ricchan didn't even noticed that it's dirty already." Hitomi said to Satoshi as she placed the headband inside her apron's pocket.

Satoshi just nodded in reply.

"Thanks for helping, Sato-kun!" Hitomi winked at her son before leaving the room.

'Ricchan didn't even told me where she went, but I'm pretty sure that she went to Mio-chan's house.' Hitomi giggled as Satoshi followed her and closed the door shut.

* * *

**A/N: **Welp, gonna end the chapter here. Sorry if it lacks Mitsu in this chap guys, but I'll make it up to you all in the next one!

Oh, and the difference that I'm referring about is that the story ascended three years after the last one, so story's format will be arc by arc.

ex: Mio and Ritsu's Childhood, Junior High, Senior High, then College.

If any of you guys watched the one ep in K-On! wherein Ritsu shows a slideshow of Mio and her as they grow up, I saw one pic when Mio and Ritsu's still in Junior High and that one girl that I based Akane for.

**Review Response:**

**Yukina-Tenma: **Of course foxes fit her, heh. Thanks for likin' it so far, even though you're the only one reviewing right now. :D

Anyways, please review/fave/follow this chapter, it helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!

Peace! Arf!


	4. Chapter 4: Confessions

**A/N:** Okay, I'm back! Just as what I've promised, this whole chapter's almost full of Mitsu! Even if it's pretty short, I'll post another new chappie a few hours after this. So, just relax and enjoy the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On! or its characters, etc, etc.

* * *

**More than Just Friends**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Confessions**

* * *

**Chapter Summary: **Ritsu went to Mio's house to ask why she walked off yesterday, but Mio can't answer, and then...

* * *

_At the Akiyama household..._

As soon as both Mio and Ritsu went upstairs, Mio hesitated as she opened her bedroom's door, Ritsu quickly rushed in. Mio got shocked as she noticed that Ritsu's inside already.

"You've got lots of things to explain to me, Mio." Ritsu said as she sat on Mio's bed, arms crossed.

"..." Mio stood silent. Ritsu patted the empty space next to her.

Mio couldn't bring herself to sit next to Ritsu, then Ritsu said, "C'mere Mio. It's not like I'm gonna bite you or something!" After staying serious for a while, she finally flashed Mio her signature grin.

Mio, after seeing that grin of hers, blushed slightly as she regained her courage to approach and sit next to Ritsu.

They've spent minutes being silent, until Ritsu broke it away. She finally decided to cut to the chase.

"So, why'd you walked off yesterday?" Ritsu eyed Mio as the latter only averted her gaze from Ritsu. 'Guess she's really holding onto some problem, eh? I wonder how I can spit it out of her.' Ritsu pondered.

After thinking about it for a while, Ritsu finally thought of an idea.

'I guess you really want to have it in a hard way, hehe...' Ritsu scooted closer to Mio and whispered in a ghostly voice, "Hey Mio, if you're not gonna tell me, there'll be lots of barnacles under your bed tonight."

Hearing that whole sentence, Mio shuddered in fear, covering her ears while whispering words, 'I didn't hear it... I didn't hear it.' over and over again.

'Hmm.. I guess it only made it worse. Forcing her smoothly should work.' Ritsu patted and said to Mio, "Sorry 'bout that, Mio. C'mon, you can tell me everything since I'm you're best friend right?" Mio continued cowering in fear.

Ritsu continued, "And if you don't tell me, I guess it's best to leave you for a while." Ritsu stood up, reaching for the door until Mio grabbed her by her wrist.

"I-I can tell you, as long as you s-stay here w-with me.." Mio blushed as she wiped the tears from forming.

'Heh. I guess faking myself to leave her worked.' Ritsu grinned mentally.

Ritsu spun her head to look at Mio, 'Woah.. she's crying already? Such a scaredy-cat.'

Seeing the state her best friend's in, she decided to give Mio a friendly hug.

Mio couldn't processed what just happened, she just froze on her spot. Ritsu on the other hand, felt that her raven-haired friend didn't retaliate to her hug, so she pulled back slowly.

But it failed as Mio hugged her as if there's no tomorrow. Ritsu felt her heart beat faster due to her friend's sudden action.

'W-wait.. is she shivering? Oh wait! It's kinda cold outside, so I'm pretty sure that's it.' Ritsu thought then she hugged her back with her eyes closed, feeling the urge to let her best friend feel comfortable in her warm embrace.

Mio widened her eyes as she shifted her face to look at Ritsu. 'Why do I feel different when I see Ritsu without her headband?' Mio's heart pounded faster as she continued to look at Ritsu.

Mio felt that her body is starting to feel hot, probably because of Ritsu's looks right now.

Ritsu noticed that her companion is starting to feel warm, decided to not let go of the hug just yet.

'Ah... it feels so nice this way. I'm starting to get sleepy, though. Heh.' Ritsu remarked inside her mind as her eyes are starting to feel heavier.

'No! WAIT! Ritsu, you idiot! Wake up! You're here to ask Mio what happened yesterday, right?' Ritsu's yelled inside her mind, trying her best to be awake in a situation like this.

Mio felt comfortable, then said, 'It feels so warm.. b-but we're hugging long enough!' Mio blushed beet red as she tried to get off of Ritsu's embrace, but it failed.

Ritsu finally gave in to her desire to sleep because she woke up early today.

A few minutes passed until Mio shrugged Ritsu to get off of her, but Ritsu didn't respond.

Mio heard soft snores, that was when she realized.. 'S-she's asleep?! Why sleep at a t-time like this?!' Mio went agape as she froze on her spot.

Mio then carried her idiot of a friend to her bed and laid her there. Mio sighed as she recalled what happened earlier, which made her blush harder than before.

The raven-haired girl sat on the edge of her bed while she examined the sleeping girl and pulled her blanket above Ritsu's body. 'She looks so cute while sleeping.. wait? Why'd I said that?!' Mio blushed for the countless time as she turned her head to at other side of the room.

"Well, I guess I should just wait for her to wake up. Mama's making toast downstairs, so I better go down first and eat breakfast." Mio talked to herself as she opened the door, stealing a glance at her childhood friend before leaving the room.

* * *

_Kitchen..._

"Mama, is it okay if Ritsu stays here for awhile?" Mio asked as she nibbled on her toast.

"Maa, maa.. Ricchan's here? I didn't know that." Midori giggled as she sat across where Mio is. She took a sip of her coffee and said, "Of course she can, Mio-chan! Ricchan's your best friend for three years now, right?"

Midori recalled that part when Ritsu and Mio slept together for the night when they were kids.

'They still got a long way to go through..' Midori took a glance at Mio, who's taking a drink from her orange juice.

"So, where's Ricchan right now?" Midori decided to question her daughter.

"S-she's sleeping in my bed.." Mio said, being embarrassed after what happened earlier.

"Oh my! Why sleep right now if it's already morning?" Midori raised her eyebrows, getting more curious as she watched her daughter fidget in her own seat.

"S-she said that she woke up early to visit.." Mio blushed, her voice lowering down as she said the next part, "..me."

"Oh.. Mio-chan, did something happened yesterday? I noticed that when you're home yesterday, you didn't even greet me." Midori felt sad as she recalled that part again.

Mio decided to be honest, or more trouble for her.

"It's t-that yesterday, when Ritsu and I-I are eating lunch.. a classmate of ours s-suddenly joined to eat with us, because her friends have something to d-do.." Mio's blush never left her face, reddening more as she continued, "t-then.. she and Ritsu are getting more c-c-close together.. a-a-and.."

Mio doesn't want to recall the moment, because she didn't want to feel alone again.

Midori quickly understood what happened next, feeling how her daughter feels right now, she spoke up, "Mio-chan.. you don't have to tell me if it hurts to much."

She saw tears falling out from Mio's face, then she decided to point it out.

"Mio-chan.. just tell her how it hurts for you, so get up and tell her the truth." Midori smiled sadly, she stood up and wiped the tears from Mio's face with her hands.

"Besides... you two are pretty close, and I don't want you to lose your precious friendship with her and cause misunderstanding." Midori said as she smiled in the end.

* * *

_After 1 hour..._

"Hngh.. huh?" The brunette finally opened her eyes and quickly sat up on the bed. She groggily wiped her eyes as she scanned the room.

After staring at the whole room, she noticed that she's in her friend's house, not hers.

'How'd I ended up here?' Ritsu questioned herself as she tried to recall what happened earlier, 'Ah! I fell asleep while hugging Mio! Dammit! That's an awkward way of falling asleep..' Ritsu flushed as she scratched her head in annoyance.

Then, after that...

The door suddenly opened, Mio slowly took a peek inside to check if Ritsu's already awake.

"Oh! Mornin', Mio!" Ritsu quickly exclaimed as she retrieved her hands from scratching herself. 'It kinda feels weird to actually say that since I'm in her room, not mine..' Ritsu awkwardly chuckled.

"G-Good morning.." Mio hesitantly replied back. 'Actually, I should be the one to greet you, not you greeting me. Geez..' Mio sweatdropped.

Ritsu stood up off the bed and approached Mio, remembering that she's here to ask her about yesterday's events. Ritsu took Mio's hand and led her to the edge of Mio's bed. Before doing so, Mio closed the door.

Both of them sat down next to each other, without hesitating, Ritsu finally asks Mio about it, "So, can you tell me now?"

Mio knew what she meant by that and decides to answer back, "O-okay.. as long as you won't laugh." Mio stuttered as she blushed at her statement.

Ritsu, not getting why she said that, asks her again, "Why would I laugh if I'm here to ask you about it seriously?" Ritsu frowned.

'She's right. She wouldn't be here just to joke about it if she went here early because of it.' She breathed in and out heavily before telling her.

"Y-yesterday, when we're eating lunch with Akane, i-it's.." Mio's eyes started to well up tears, ready to fall down any second.

"W-wait! Don't cry.." Ritsu patted Mio's back, Mio felt a bit comfortable and continued what she has to say.

"..It's just t-that, I felt alone when you and Akane are starting to get close together.." Mio couldn't hold her tears as she started to cry like a baby.

"There, there.. even if Akane and I grow closer, I will never leave you, Mio, ever. That's a promise!" Ritsu spoke softly as she hugged her raven-haired companion rather tightly.

Mio stopped crying as she widened her eyes. After hearing those words, she blushed until it reached her ear. 'I will never leave you, Mio, ever. That's a promise!' Those words echoed inside Mio's mind as she felt that fluffy feeling inside her heart.

"Did I just said that? It sounded corny like hell!" Ritsu exclaimed as she continued to pat her best friend's back.

After finally recovering from her sobbing, Mio looked up to see her sandy-haired friend grinning at her widely.

Mio finds that grin a bit charming on her best friend's face.

"That's so not how you talk, Ritsu!" Mio bursted into laughter after her friend's short confession earlier.

"W-wha-! I'm just tryin' to cheer ya up, y'know?" Ritsu pouted and crossed her arms, looking away in the process.

"Yeah. Thank you, it did work." Mio giggled and smiled.

"Finally! That's the first time I saw ya smile today!" Ritsu gave Mio her thumbs up followed with a grin. 'Everything's back to where it's supposed to be! Mission accomplished, Commander Ritsu!' Ritsu thought proudly and nodded to herself.

"I dunno why, but seeing that smile of yours makes me happy inside.." Ritsu blurted out her second confession for the day. 'Oh noes! Why'd I said that! I'm slowly turning to one of those prince charmings!' Ritsu mentally face-palmed herself and sighed.

Mio said nothing as she blushed yet again of her best friend's sudden confession.

They spent the next few minutes sitting next to each other in silence, and then...

Ritsu placed both her hands to her side, Mio unexpectedly did the same. Mio's hand toppled over Ritsu's own. That was when both of them looked at each other.

Amber eyes met grey ones.

Ritsu focused her gaze from Mio's eyes, then her cheeks. 'She's too cute when she's blushing.' She then continued to examine her whole face. 'Mio, did I ever tell you that you're beautiful?' This time, Ritsu confessed inside her mind to avoid any awkward things happen between them anymore.

Mio stared at Ritsu's eyes, to her nose, then to her whole face. 'S-she's blushing? N-no way!' Mio thought as she stuttered mentally.

'Okay... we're staring at each other way too long. Awkward.' Ritsu looked away as she tried to maintain her energetic-as-usual composure.

Ritsu decides to break the staring contest and stood up, placing her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Ne, Mio. What if we ask Akane on Monday to hang out with us so you can know her better? How's that?" Ritsu grinned at her own suggestion.

Mio placed her hands on her chin, 'Hmm.. I guess it's okay, since I'm pretty sure that Akane joined with us yesterday to ask us to be friends with each other..'

"And besides, this is the first time you're gonna have another friend other than me so you've got to get used to it. And what if I'm gone for a while? I don't want ya to start cryin'." Ritsu's grin reached her ear.

"O-okay then." 'I guess I'm not used to having another friend other else than Ritsu, but this is the chance to change it.' Mio smiled at her own thought.

* * *

_Monday, at school..._

"Ah! Mio-chan, Ritsu! How're ya today?" Akane greeted the two as Mio settled her bag next to her desk and sat down.

"I'm fine, Akane. Thanks for asking." 'I guess she's indirectly asking what happened last Friday.' Mio smiled at Akane. Ritsu grinned and gave Akane a friendly chokehold.

"Haha.. Ritsu! Stop it!" Akane laughed and patted Ritsu's hand to get off her. 'Yes! My plan's working, even though I'm just playing it off.'

"Our match is not done yet, Hayabusha-san!" Ritsu mimicked a sumo wrestler's voice and exaggerated her face.

"Then let us start it now, Tainaka-san!" Both of them clasped their hands together, throwing each other down.

"Hah! You can't beat me at this rate! I'm winning!" Ritsu smirked as she started to gain the upper hand to throw Akane down.

The whole class just stared and sweatdropped in the process.

'I guess everything's back to normal.. I shouldn't fret over something like this because that's how they really are.' Mio stood up and gave Ritsu a bump on the head.

"Itaii!" Ritsu let go of Akane's hands and placed it on her poor head.

"You idiot! You said that we're going to ask Akane to hang out with us later." A nerve popped on Mio's head as she continued to clench her fist.

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about it, ehehehe-" Ritsu grinned nervously as she scratched her head and then..

..Thump!

This time, Mio hit Ritsu harder to make her remember it completely.

"Geez.. you never change, do you?" Mio sighed and sat on her seat. Akane just watched the whole thing silently.

'Oh wow.. they're pretty interesting and they wanna ask me to join 'em? Yay!' Akane cheered from inside her head as she couldn't contain her happiness.

"You wanna ask me guys to join you? I'm totally in!" Akane grinned widely as she formed both of her hands into a peace sign.

"You're in! Told ya, Mio! The more, the merrier, and the more I can eat more food!" Ritsu laughed and grinned as she placed her arm on Akane's shoulder.

'Ritsu's right. But I'm pretty sure she asked her to join us just to eat Akane's food, other than making friends with the others.' Mio felt happy and annoyed at the same time.

Just as Mio is about to reply, their English teacher came in.

"Well, just join us later, peace!" Ritsu throwed both of them her peace sign as she went back to take a seat.

"I can't wait! Later, Mio-chan!" Akane went back to her seat as well.

'The more, the merrier it is.' Mio smiled as she watched their teacher place her books on the teacher's table.

* * *

**A/N: **I felt happy after postin' this one, it's pretty short (IMO) because I'm working on the next chap, which'll be released a few hours later. :D

**Review Responses: (finally, more reviews!)**

**Keeper Aki: **Yeah, she is, but I didn't wrote it directly though. xD

**Yukina-Tenma: **I'm pretty sure she thinks it's weird 'cause she looks like a handsome boy (in her opinion). About the headbands, it gets dirty 'cause I searched about it. lol and you're not the only one reviewing anymore. :D

**qart: **Thanks and I will!

Anyways, please review/fave/follow this chapter, it helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!

Peace! Arf!


	5. Chapter 5: Upcoming School Festival

******A/N:** Like I've said in the last chapter, I'll update a few hours after the last one, so here it is! Relax and enjoy reading, y'all!

******Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On! or any of its characters, etc, etc.

* * *

**More than Just Friends**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Upcoming School Festival**

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** School Festival's almost coming up, what will the class of Mio, Ritsu, and Akane going to do?

* * *

_At school..._

"Okay class, please take your seats. Today, we're going to discuss "The Types of Verbs" and later, I'm going to give you time to brainstorm for the upcoming School Festival.

"S-school Festival?! Time flies by way too fast!"

"I wonder what we're going to do this year?"

"How about we perform a play?"

Some of the class shared their thoughts while others murmured about the school festival.

"Class, we'll discuss about that later! Well, let's continue to our lesson." Their teacher silenced all of them as she grabbed her chalk, writing, "The Types of Verbs"

* * *

_After they've discussed about their lesson..._

"Okay, class! I'm going to give you time to think about what you're going to do for this year's School Festival. Then later, you can have your break." The teacher took a seat as she planned her lesson to discuss tomorrow.

The whole class gathered in a circle, sitting and started brainstorming ideas, while Mio, Ritsu, and Akane sat next to each other.

"So.." Their class president, Asami Mizushima, started the topic, "..can any of you give ideas of what we'll do for this upcoming School Festival?"

"How about we open a cafe?"

"Or how about we open up a haunted house?" With that one particular sentence, Mio cringed in fear. Ritsu noticed this and patted her head, saying, "It's okay.."

Ritsu decided to open up to the topic and said, "How about no, because my friend here is a scaredy-cat."

Everyone looked at them, others saying, "Oh yeah. She's easily scared, so haunted house is out from the list."

Mio, being the center of attraction, just averted her eyes and played with her hands. 'Ritsu, you idiot. You know that I don't like being the center of attraction.'

"Haunted house is rejected." Asami produced her piece of paper, scribbling ideas and crossing out 'haunted house'.

They continued pondering until someone stood up and said, "Hey, hey! Like I've said before guys, why don't we perform a play?"

Everyone looked at the person who said that, it was Akane Hayabusha.

Others nodded, while the others just stared at her in silence.

Akane continued, "Since I read story books at home, how 'bout we perform, 'Romeo and Juliet'?"

'Crap! So Akane's like Mio, ugh! I thought she's like the second 'me'!' Ritsu started imagining unicorns, princes, drama stories, etc.

Ritsu scratched her back, while Mio looked up at Akane, saying, "Y-you're like me, Akane. I read stories and 'Romeo and Juliet' as well." Mio's eyes brightened. 'I guess Ritsu's idea isn't as bad as I've thought.'

"Does anyone agree to Hayabusha-san's suggestion?" Their president raised her hand, agreeing in the process.

Other pupils raised their hands, same with Mio's.

'Wh-wha-! Mio, not you too!' Ritsu went agape as she stared at her best friend, shocked.

Asami started counting hands, whispering, "..Six.. Twelve.. Sixteen... Twenty two." She wrote the digits and continued, "We have 26 votes. Looks like 'Romeo and Juliet' play it is."

"Awright!" Akane pumped her fists in the air, Mio started smiling and imagines someone being the 'Romeo', while the other one is 'Juliet'.

Ritsu's frozen like a statue, faceless.

"Oi, oi! Ritsu! Snap out of it!" Akane recovered from her cheery mode to serious mode.

No response..

Everyone started looking at Ritsu, worried.

Mio's starting to get worried as well. She shook Ritsu's body, still no response.

'Ah! I know!' Mio stood up..

..THUD!

"Huh? What?!" Ritsu finally came back to Earth as if she didn't felt being hit.

"Finally.. We thought you died while sitting! Hahaha!" Akane cackled into laughter as she sat down.

"Aw, shaddup! I can't believe we're all performing 'Romeo and Juliet'." Ritsu pouted and scratched her back like hell.

Mio took a seat as she apoligized to Ritsu. "Gomen, Ritsu. It's just that this is the first time we're performing a play in a school festival."

"Yeah, right. Apology denied." Ritsu folded her arms and huffed at Mio.

"W-what?" Mio's eyes widened as this is the first time Ritsu didn't forgave her.

"I'll forgive you, if you perform as 'Juliet' in the play! Hah! Let's see if you're gonna regret what ya just did." Ritsu smirked evilly as she teased Mio.

"No! I don't want to! I'd rather want you to not forgive me than play as 'Juliet." It's Mio's turn to cross her arms and turn away.

"Ah.. now that you've said it, Tainaka-san.. Akiyama-san is nominated as 'Juliet'." Asami suggested as she wrote Mio's name on the paper.

"Does anyone else want to nominate someone as 'Juliet'?" The president continued.

Nobody spoke up, others just shook their heads.

Mio returned to her original position, "W-Watashi?! S-sorry, but I don't w-want to, thanks." Mio started laughing nervously and sweating.

"Well, I'm sorry Akiyama-san, but this is everyone's decision, so it's not just your opinion." Asami blocked Mio's defensive response, while she wrote the other characters in the play.

"Hahaha! So the results backfired at you, didn't it! Okay, I forgive you now." Ritsu bursted into laughter as she continuously slapped her hands on the floor.

"S-shut up, you idiot!"

..Thump!

"Ouchie!" Ritsu rubbed her head, the others laughed at them.

"Hmm.. Mio does seem to fit as Juliet, doesn't she, Ritsu?" Akane asked Ritsu as both of them looked at Mio curiously.

"Yer right, she does!" Ritsu quickly recovered as she placed her hand on her chin, nodding her head, same with Akane.

"So, who's going to be 'Romeo'?" Asami tapped her pen on her lap impatiently.

"Ritsu's going to be 'Romeo', because she and Mio are pretty close, aren't they?" Akane stood up and took a step back, avoiding any harm from Ritsu.

'W-what the hell, Akane?! Which side are you on?!' Ritsu groaned, preparing to chokehold Akane any minute now.

"Yeah! They're really close!"

"You're right, Akane-san!"

"Mio-chan and Ritsu-chan seem to fit their roles, after all."

"Well then, Tainaka-san, you're going to be 'Romeo' for this year's play." Asami wrote Ritsu's name in the 'Romeo' category.

"W-wha-! No way in hell!" Ritsu stood up and froze. 'This is unbelievable! That Akane! Argh!'

Mio giggled as she watched the scene, 'I guess this isn't really bad at all. Ritsu being 'Rome- wait! What am I thinking! I'm going to perform in front of everyone! It's going to be embarassing!' Mio's mouth dropped as realization finally hit her.

Ritsu recovered, shouting, "Hayabusha Akane! C'mere or I'll kill you!"

"Haha! No way! After this, I know that you'll thank me later!" Akane grinned as she escaped Ritsu's death blow.

"Whaddya mean by that?" Ritsu stopped and raised her eyebrows, confused.

Akane cautiously walked next to Ritsu, whispering, "This is a sign of my gratitude for lettin' me join you guys. And besides, it's you and Mio-chan after all right? You'll have lots of close moments together in the play, and who knows, you two'll be super close friends, amiright?"

Ritsu, being dense, understood what Akane meant. She whispered back 'Thanks'.

Mio, not hearing what the two of them are talking about, asked, "What are two talking about?"

"We're talking about how fun this is gonna be!" Akane responsed for both of her and Ritsu.

Ritsu just grinned, mouthing inaudble words, 'You'll see.'

'Huh?' Mio thought, not understanding what they meant.

Meanwhile, the others just decided to leave them from their business and continued to choose their other classmates as characters.

After a while...

"Okay class! You can take your break now." Their teacher stood up and left the room.

* * *

_At the cafeteria..._

"Ugh! Today's pretty crowded, don't you think?" Ritsu struggled to escape from the crowds of people in their way.

"Yeah! I.. can't.. almost breat-the..." Akane gasped for air as she got squashed by other students.

"C'mon, you guys! Hurry up before the second class period starts!" Mio shouted not from afar, making sure that her friends are still there. She finally bought her chocolate-coated bread that's crowding a certain part of the canteen.

"Yep! We're on it!" Ritsu finally got off from the crowd, breathing heavily because she got toppled over by some students from higher years.

Akane got totally squashed as she shouted for help.

"Mio, can you hold on to this for a sec? Our lil' friend needs a lil' saving there!" Ritsu gave Mio her bag of cookies to avoid it from being crushed in by the crowd.

"I'm comin', Aka-chuan!" Ritsu clapped her hands together before diving in while avoiding bumping butts.

"I'm h-here, Ritsu.." Akane said to make sure Ritsu sees her.

"Grab my hand before we get crushed alive!" Ritsu dramatically handed out her hand. Akane grabbed and Ritsu strongly pulled out of them in the dangerous stacks of students.

"Ah!" Akane took in a huge amount of air before exhaling. "Thanks, Ritsu! You saved me there!" Akane grinned as she hugged Ritsu.

"Anything for my comrade!" Ritsu pounded her chest bravely.

Mio just watched the two of them. 'Those two are pretty funny..' Mio giggled, "Well, let's go!"

Mio handed Ritsu her bag of cookies back. The two made skin contact in the process.

Ritsu flushed lightly while Mio blushed.

'Why are these two blushing?' Akane pondered as she looked at the pair in front of her.

Ritsu took the bag before coughing, "Ahem, well.. let's go!"

'They're interesting, yet weird. But ah well, it suits me anyway.' Akane repeated what Ritsu said, "Yeah, lets!"

* * *

_Second morning class period..._

Their History teacher coughed before speaking up, "As all of you may know, I'm giving you all my time for planning of the upcoming School Festival."

'Finally! This is the first time Kurosaki-sensei's being nice!' Ritsu grinned at their teacher while placing her hands on the back of her head.

"Well everyone, start your planning now while I do something important here." Kurosaki-sensei took a seat, reading a higher-level History book.

Ritsu stood up, she walked towards Mio's direction. Akane also stood up following Ritsu.

The rest of the students formed a circle like earlier.

"So we're just gonna plan for today? Yay! More free time for me to take a nap!" Ritsu laughed at her silly way of spending precious time for something useless right now.

"You can't! This is an important time for us to practice how we act, idiot!" Mio smacked Ritsu's head, groaning.

Akane laughed, 'Why does Ritsu even enjoy being hit on the head by Mio?'

Ritsu whimpered in pain as she rubbed the newly formed bulge on her head. "Ouch! Maybe I should call you else, like.. the 'Dangerous Queen', Akiyama Mio-"

...THUD!

Ritsu fell on the floor, she fainted from the falcon punch.

There are veins popping out on Mio's slightly red hand, her face reddened in anger.

Everyone just watched them, along with Kurosaki-sensei, being scared as well.

"Well.. she did took a nap.." Akane giggled before she continued what she has to say, "...in a hard way, though."

After hearing what Akane said, Mio went back to normal and started giggling, "Maybe I went too far."

"Guess you just did." Akane said in the fits of giggles.

After not noticing it for a while, Mio spoke up, "What's your role in the play, by the way?"

Akane was shocked because she hasn't be chosen to be a part of the play yet. Thunder strucked her too hard.

Just as before Akane could speak, "Ah, Hayabusha-san! Do you want to be the scriptwriter?" Their president called while inside the group circle.

Akane thought about it for a while, 'If I'm the scriptwriter... then maybe I can change Mio-chan and Ritsu's dialogues, or maybe with a 'kissing scene', hehehe..." A dark aura is forming around Akane as she giggled evilly.

"U-umm... Hayabus-" Their president's words were cutted off by Akane.

"I'll do it!" Akane's eyes are gleaming.

"O-okay then.." Asami wrote Akane's name in the scriptwriter category. 'She's too enthusiastic..' Their president sweatdropped, along with the others who listened to their whole conversation.

"Ah, class.. before I go, the School festival will be held in three weeks. So next week, all of your subject times will be replaced with practice." Their History teacher stood up as he prepared his things before he goes out of the classroom.

* * *

_After school..._

"Ah! I survived the Apocalypse, yet again!" Ritsu stretched as they walked off from school.

"Hey! Don't leave me here!" Akane pouted and looked away.

"Oh.. soyaba! When's the play gonna be held?" Ritsu asked as she placed her hands behind her back.

'Oh yeah.. she didn't remembered any of it because she fainted..' Mio felt a bit guilty of what she did earlier.

"I'm pretty sure that it'll be held in three weeks, if that's what I heard from Kurosaki-sensei." Akane replied back.

"Hm.. three weeks..." Ritsu repeated, "..Now that's pretty short for all the preparations."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Our teachers said that they'll give their subject times for us to plan for the festival, which is good news." Akane said.

"Oh yeah! What's your role, Akane?" Ritsu asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm the scripwriter." Akane said proudly as she pounded her chest.

"Just make sure you don't mess up our dialogues, or I'll mess you up!" Ritsu sighed.

"Oh, I will!" Akane grinned as she ran forward to avoid Ritsu's fury.

"C'mere you.." Akane dodged Ritsu's chokehold as she kept her running pace.

"You missed!"

"Hah! You'll get it later!" Ritsu smirked evilly, making an evil plan behind the scenes. 'Tomorrow, I'll chokehold you to death! Just you wait, Aka-chuan!'

When the evil tension subsided from Ritsu, Akane stopped running and started walking to keep up with her friends.

Mio just observed the two, her mother's voice popped up inside her head,

_"Besides... you two are pretty close, and I don't want you to lose your precious friendship with her and cause misunderstanding."_

'No! I will never lose Ritsu, ever! It's a good thing we're performing a play as 'Romeo' and 'Juliet' together.' Mio removed her bad thoughts as she blushed because she's playing lovers with Ritsu. 'I'll make it up for our friendship! I swear!'

'I wonder what I'll write for Mio and Ritsu's dialogues?' Akane pondered as they walked forward.

They spent the rest of their walking while thinking in silence, leaving Ritsu out of place.

When they met the intersection point, they all bid their goodbyes to each other before walking towards their designated homes.

* * *

**A/N: **Welp, that's it for today. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! There will be more to it, just you wait. :D

**Review Responses:**

**Keeper Aki: **Yep, they are. Haha and nope, Akane doesn't have any so don't worry.

**Yukina-Tenma: **Ha! I'm pretty sure it'll get stronger after the play. Yep, Happy Three Friends (pun intended).

About Mio's fist of justice, maybe Akane will get it in the next few chapters or so.

Haha lol I totally agree!

After that, yeah. She did.

Looks like you're right, or maybe they're just lazy to review or somethin'. :P

Anyways, please review/fave/follow this chapter, it helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!

Peace! Arf!


	6. Chapter 6: Excuses

**A/N: **I can't think properly in the last few days, so I can't finish this story on time. Well, I'm back so it doesn't matter that much. Enjoy reading, y'all!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On! or any of its characters, etc, etc.

* * *

**More than Just Friends**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Excuses**

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** Akane already comes up with a script for the play, how will they react to it?

* * *

_That night, Hayabusha household..._

"Argh! What will I do?" Akane groaned as she rolled on her bed. 'Why can't I think of their dialogues right now?!'

"I've got to make this look as dramatic as possible.. hm.." Akane sat up on her bed, trying to come up with a best scene possible for the 'Romeo and Juliet' play.

An idea struck Akane's head.

"Ah! I know! I'm going to get some lines from my Romeo and Juliet book!" Akane stood up as she reached for her story book in the bookcase.

"Hm.." She flipped the book page by page, until she came across the first kissing scene in the story.

"Hee hee.. this is going to be fun!" Akane smirked evilly as she scrambled for a piece of spiral notebook and a pen to write the dialogues.

* * *

_The next day..._

Mio and Ritsu walked together towards school, not inviting Akane to come along with them because they don't know where her house is yet.

"I kinda feel bad for not inviting Akane to walk with us.." Mio felt gloomy as she thinked about Akane walking alone.

"Nah, don't be!" Ritsu spun her head to look at her raven-haired companion.

"We don't even know where she lives specifically because yesterday, she just crossed the intersection line without even telling us where she lives at that part of the neighborhood." Ritsu placed her hands inside her pocket.

"I guess you're right." Mio took in her best friend's words as they continued to walk towards school. She turned her head to look at Ritsu. 'I wonder how our play's going to end up?'

_A few minutes after, both of them finally arrived school, and then.._

"Huh? Isn't that Akane?" Ritsu pointed out the small figure running towards the school's entrance.

"I wonder why she's in a hurry?" Mio questioned Ritsu as they continued walking.

"Let's follow her!" Ritsu grabbed her best friend's hand and ran towards the direction Akane's in.

"R-ritsu! Wait!" Mio almost tripped as she kept up with her companion's pace.

* * *

Akane swung her classroom's door wide open, startling some of her classmates with those shocked look on their faces.

Akane panted for air as she recovered her normal breathing pattern.

"Minna, I finished all the dialogues for the play!" Akane enthusiastically skipped towards her seat where she settled her bag.

Asami, their president, is shocked to hear what she just heard. "A-are you sure, Hayabusha-sa-"

Akane cutted her sentence before she can barely finish, "Of course, I do! Never underestimate the 'Great Akane-san'!" Akane placed her hands on her hips as she laughed dramatically.

"B-but how?"

"Is that even possible or maybe you just skipped some of the characters' dialogues.." Akane glared at the one who said that, the latter flinched.

"I finished it because I wanna know how our play's going to end up!" Akane huffed.

_Not before long..._

"Akane!" Ritsu quickly walked in to see what the fuss is about, dragging Mio in rather forcefully.

"L-let go of me now, you idiot!" Mio blushed as she retrieved her hands before everybody can see.

"Ah, sorry. Heh." Ritsu scratched her head as she panted for air.

"Anyway.. Why are you in a rush earlier, Akane? This idiot checked on you to see if something's wrong." Mio walked towards her desk as she placed her bag on it, while Ritsu just remained standing.

"Yeah, why are you running so fast as if a bear's chasing you? We can't even catch up!" Ritsu folded her arms as she examined her other friend's face. 'Why is she so happy right now?'

Akane just smiled at Ritsu and Mio as she stood on her place, giving them a sign they can't believe.

'D-don't tell me that..' Both Mio and Ritsu thought, 'SHE ALREADY FINISHED THE WHOLE STORY'S DIALOGUES?!' Both of them froze.

"I've already finished your lines, guys." Akane giggled as she jumped in joy. Mio and Ritsu still can't believe that Akane can even finish it all in one night.

"Oh, and you better thank me guys 'cause I spent the night writing the dialogues on my notebook." Akane gestured to all of her classmates, then she racked her bag for the script.

"It's totally impossible.." Ritsu returned to her normal state as she still can't believe that the dialogues are already made by Akane, who is a bit irresponsible like her.

"Still don't believe me? Fine! Here it is!" Ritsu's getting on her nerves, she took out the script and shoved it on Ritsu's face.

Ritsu just got book-faced, but she read the notebook's contents even if it's totally zoomed in on her face.

'O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo! What the heck?!' Ritsu sweatdropped, she is not so familiar with the type of language they are all going to say, even though it's written in Japanese.

"Do ya believe me now?" Akane retrieved her notebook back, smirking in triumph.

"Y-yeah.." Ritsu is at loss of words right now, 'What kinda language style are they using? Can't they just use the modern English language? Damn Shakespeare..'

Mio just stood on her spot, 'It's really impossible to finish it in one night.. or maybe..' Mio thought of the nearest possible option to say, '..she copied the whole story in her 'Romeo and Juliet' book! No wonder why!' Mio's logic finally hit her hard.

"Akane.." Mio signaled her friend to approach her. Akane followed her friend's order as she leaned her head to listen.

"Akane.. did you just copied the whole story in your book?" Mio cupped her hand and whispered to her ear, Akane flinched as she heard her words.

'Well.. looks like my 'awesome' image is ruined.' Akane sighed as she answered back, "Well, yeah, but not all of it. So don't tell the others, okay?" Mio nodded.

'I wonder what part she removed? Oh! That 'scene' where 'Romeo' and 'Juliet' will...' Mio brushed off her 'other side' as she blushed madly.

Ritsu and the others grew suspicious of the two whispering to each other. 'Why do my insides feel weird right now? And why's Mio blushing?!'

She decided to approach the two, "Oi! What're you two talkin' about?" Ritsu scowled at the two.

Akane started getting nervous as she sweatdropped, "Ah, we're just talking about your roles in the play, Ritsu." Akane spoke defensively.

"Uh-huh. Yeah, right." Ritsu deadpanned. 'Liar.'

Mio was about to say something, but the school's bell rang throughout the whole building, signaling the start of classes, moreover, the preparation for the School Festival.

Everyone went back to their seats.

Their English teacher, Haruka Tokiwa, when inside their classroom. She clapped her hands to get her students' attention.

"Okay, class. You're all going to perform a play, right? Any progress on it?" Haruka placed her black laptop aside as she took a seat on the teacher's chair.

Asami abruptly stood up, "Yes, Haruka-sensei. Our scriptwriter already finished our dialogues."

Haruka is amazed of what she heard, "Are you sure, Mizushima-san? Can I see the script?"

Akane walked towards their teacher, still holding the script and handed it out to Haruka-sensei.

Haruka stood up as she flipped the spiral notebook page by page, until she knew that Akane did her part, she said,

"Hayabusha-san, I'm amazed how fast you copy Shakespeare's work onto this notebook. Okay, it's accepted." Haruka giggled as she gave Akane her notebook back.

'No wonder why she finished it so fast.' Everyone sweatdropped as they continued to stare at Akane.

'Crap! My image.. is ruined!' Akane giggled nervously as she took her seat. 'Wait.. I didn't copy all of it! I left 'that' part out, y'know?'

"Well then, you may have your practice." Haruka took as seat as she powered he laptop on.

'Oh, so maybe that's what Mio and Akane are talkin' about, huh.' Ritsu dropped her head onto her hand as she continued to stare at Mio in front of her. 'But I wonder why she's blushing earlier?'

Mio, feeling that someone's staring at her, looked behind to see Ritsu staring at her with that bored expression on her face.

They stared at each other before Mio looked back to her front, blushing and stood up. 'Why's that idiot looking at me like that?'

Akane approached the two, "Oi! If the two of you guys think that I copied everything, you're wrong." Akane grinned at the two, she gave Mio her script.

Mio flipped the script, but as soon as she checked Act 1, Scene 5, she blushed hard. "This is.. this is the kissing scene! Akane, why do you have to add this?!" Mio quickly stood beside Akane as she pointed out the part on the notebook, blushing as red as a tomato.

Ritsu stood up and checked if what Mio said is really true. As soon as she check the dialogues, "I can't understand any of it.. Shakespeare, why'd you have to write something like this?!" Ritsu quickly blurted out without thinking.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the speaker, they sweatdropped. 'Does she even know Shakespeare?'

Ritsu quickly grabbed Akane's arm and dragged her next to the door before excusing themselves to 'use the restroom'.

* * *

_At the restroom..._

"Kissing scene?! I've never heard that in the play before! Akane, you said that I ain't gonna regret it, but this? Augh!" Ritsu whisper-shouted at Akane, so that nobody can her their conversation out loud.

"You never even read or watch Romeo and Juliet, huh? And I can't help it 'cause it's in my story book, y'know!" Akane moved her hands with the script while she argued with Ritsu.

"How can I even watch it if I can't stand corny stuff? And if it's in the book, can't you just leave it out?" Ritsu answered back.

"Oh yeah, I saw you scratching your back endlessly back then.. no wonder why. Oh, and how're you and Mio-chan gonna spend some 'lovey-dovey' time if I crossed it out?" Akane argued back.

"You never knew me that much, heh. Can't we just switch the 'kissing scene' to something else?" Ritsu can't lose to an argument like this, because she always lose to Mio when she's making an excuse to copy her homework.

"Of course I don't, I mean, we just started hanging out. And we can't switch it 'cause it'll ruin the setting's mood, unless you guys fake it out somehow." Akane explained back.

"Then do your best to know me, then. Faking it out? How?" Ritsu broke their two-sided arguement as she tilted her head in question.

'Fake kiss Mio? How? Ugh! I just can't stand these things!' Ritsu scratched her head in frustration.

"I will, then! Fake kiss her, like umm..." Akane placed her free hand under her chin, thinking of possible ways to fake kiss someone.

After pondering, Akane spoke, "Ritsu, while on stage, you could just kiss her on the cheek since you guys are facing each other, it's not that obvious. How's that?" Akane pointed out.

"Hm.." Ritsu is still not convienced about it.

"Or Mio-chan will just cup your cheeks with her hands while your faces are just an inch next to each other, blocking the audiences from seeing it." Akane suggested once more before giving up.

"Hm.." Ritsu hummed like earlier.

'It's no good, huh?' Akane thought sadly.

"Actually, that ain't bad at all! Nice one, Akane!" Ritsu positioned herself to high-five Akane. Akane noticed it and high-fived her.

"Well, let's go back or else everyone thinks we skipped class." Ritsu said.

"Yep, let's." Akane followed Ritsu out of the restroom.

* * *

_At the classroom..._

'What's taking them so long? And this feeling my tummy when Ritsu and Akane are close when we ate lunch back then.. it's back.' Mio placed a hand on her abdomen.

"Can somebody check on Tainaka-san and Hayabusha-san? They've been out to go to the restroom for twenty minutes now." Haruka shouted so that everyone in the class could hear it.

Without thinking, "I'll look for them, Tokiwa-sensei!" Mio quickly stood up as she went outside to look for them.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the corridor..._

"Do you think it'll work?" Ritsu asked.

"Of course it will, can't you trust me for once?" Akane begged as she pouted.

"Well, maybe just for this once, heh." Ritsu grinned as she placed her hands on the back of her head.

They walked back towards the classroom is silence, until..

"Ritsu! Akane!" Mio shouted as she waved at the two.

"Ah, she spotted us." Ritsu spoke quietly. 'And I was thinking of skipping class, mou..'

"Yep." Akane spoke back as she waved her hands with the script at Mio.

"What's taking you guys so long in the restroom?" Mio quickly pointed out the reason she's outside here with them.

"It's uh.." Ritsu can't find the right excuse at the moment. 'Maybe I should just tell her that I tripped on the way to the restroom? Nah! No good!'

"I was checking the right hairstyle for Ritsu as 'Romeo'." Akane quickly sputtered out to avoid any suspiciousness.

"Oh, then why didn't you guys just do it in the classroom?" 'And why didn't you guys tagged me along with you?' Mio sadly thought.

"Well, 'cause after that we used the toilet for real. Heh." Ritsu gave Mio her reassuring grin,

"Maybe you said that 'cause you're alone in the classroom without us!" Ritsu teased Mio as poked her raven-haired friend's side.

Mio squealed before she hit Ritsu right on the head.

...Twack!

"Itaii!" Ritsu bit her tongue because Mio hit her while she's talking.

"So you guys are heading back now, right?" Mio questioned them for the last time.

"Yep, we are. Sorry for taking so long, though." Ritsu recovered fast, then she placed an arm around Mio's shoulder.

'It's a good thing Akane's a fast-thinker, or else we're squashed.'

'Whew.. good thing I quickly made up an excuse or else Mio-chan will grew suspicious about it.' Akane sighed as she followed her friends behind.

* * *

_Back to the classroom..._

"We're back!" The three of them said in unison.

"Ah, what are you two doing back in the restroom, Tainaka-san and Hayabusha-san?" Haruka quickly sputtered out her question. Her face is already stern about it.

"We're just trying out Ritsu's hairstyle for the play, Haruka-sensei." Akane bowed her head in apology, she elbowed Ritsu to do the same.

'Ouch! Okay, I will!' Ritsu bowed as well and said, "And we used the toilet after that."

"Oh, is that so? Then have you already come up with the right one, Hayabusha-san?" Haruka raised her eyebrows, starting to believe that the two are telling the truth.

"Yes, I have.." Akane looked up to see her teacher looking at her curiously. 'Crap! What am I gonna do now?' She nervously looked at Ritsu, thinking if she has a plan.

'Hm.. hairstyle? What if I take my headband off?' Ritsu recalled the moment when she stared at herself in a mirror without a headband.

"Well, can I see it then?" Haruka stood up and approached the three girls.

'I wonder if they really did come up with something..' Mio decided to step back and watch the scene.

'Here goes nothin'!' Ritsu closed her eyes shut as she pulled her yellow headband off.

Ritsu's bang fell freely on her forehead, Akane and Mio stared at Ritsu in awe.

"Oh! You really look like 'Romeo', Tainaka-san!" Haruka winked at Ritsu as she pinched her cheek.

'Ritsu looks hand- uh.. I mean.. cute without her headband! Who would've thought.' Akane placed her hand under her chin as she nod. 'Nice excuse, Commander!'

'Ritsu's cute without her headband. I wish she wouldn't wear it anymore.' Mio blushed as she looked at her headbandless friend.

Ritsu blushed lightly as her teacher continued to pinch her cheek, the others are getting jealous over the fact that their favorite teacher is cooing somebody else.

"I guess I should stop it now, since the others are staring.." Haruka retrieved her hands as she winked at Ritsu yet again.

She went back to her seat, "Minna! Continue what you're doing or else no progress is done!"

Akane and Mio approached their dumbfounded friend.

"W-what just happened?" Ritsu stated as she rubbed her reddened cheek.

"Maybe Haruka-sensei's took a liking on you, hehe.." Akane grinned.

"Wha-! That's absurd!" Ritsu placed her headband back on her head. 'Yeah! That's were it should be!'

'Too bad that she wore it again..' Mio felt sad, "Ritsu, we should practice now."

"Huh? Oh yeah! Can I have the script, Aka-chuan?" Ritsu decided to tease Akane after what she did to her.

"Aka-chuan? Ugh.. I hate it!" Akane gave Ritsu the script as she stuck her tongue out in disguist.

"Heh, yeah. See ya Aka-chuan!" Ritsu decided to tease Akane more as she took Mio's hand and went to the corner of the room.

"Stop it! Geez.." Akane pouted. She watched the scene in front of her before thinking, 'I guess those two need each other as friends, huh? Yep, I never regretted what I did to join 'em.' Akane smiled.

* * *

**A/N: **Finally! This chappy is done! Also, I've been watching Tamako Market lately, a character in that anime looks a lot like Ritsu. (Male version of Ritsu?)

**Review Responses: **

**Fujimoto-Chiaki-789: **Haha, yeah. Although she did just removed some parts. xD

**Yukina-Tenma: **I forgot to tell you that the setting of the middle school arc took place in the middle of their school year lol, so school festival's occured to happen.

Akane as a scriptwriter, or a plain 'copying machine'! xD

**Keeper Aki: **Yep, the school play chapter will be out maybe after 2 more chaps or so. Well, Akane did remove some of the story's parts and added more Mitsu in it lol

Anyways, tell me what you all think about this chap in a form of a review/follow/fave, it helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!

Peace! Arf!


	7. Chapter 7: Close Enough

**A/N: **Whew! I'm back after 1 week! Sorry 'bout the delay because I'm pretty busy enjoying the last few days of my summer vacation. Oh and, the last chap has few Mitsu scenes so I decided to write it in the next chap, which is right now! Anyways, enjoy reading y'all!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own K-On! or any of its characters, etc, etc.

* * *

**More than Just Friends**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Close Enough**

* * *

**Chapter Summary: **Mio and Ritsu are going to practice their roles. What happens next?

* * *

_After school..._

"Oi Mio, Wait up!" Ritsu tried her best to keep up with her friend.

Mio dashed towards her home, ignoring Ritsu behind.

"Mio, why're you in a hurry?" Ritsu groaned as she went ahead and blocked Mio from going further.

"We're going to practice, remember?" Mio furrowed her brows. She scrambled her hand inside her bag to find the script Akane gave her.

"Akane said that she has to go home early because her parents are going somewhere tonight." Mio concluded, she grabbed Ritsu's arm, dragging her towards the Akiyama house's front door.

"Why are you so hyped up about this?" Ritsu raised her eyebrows as she continued, "And here I thought you're the shy one, not me."

"Because.." Mio looked at Ritsu confidently before breaking up into tears, "I-I don't want to m-make any mistakes if we're going to p-perform on stage.." Mio hiccuped as she continued to sob.

"Woah, wait! Mio, don't cry.." Ritsu patted Mio's head, 'Oh yeah.. if she did make a mistake, I know that she'll never get over it. Thus, it's pretty embarrassing, after all..'

The house's door opened, revealing Midori in the doorway. Midori heard them talking, so she decided to greet them.

"Ah, Ricchan, Mio-chan, welco-" Midori stopped talking when she saw the scene in front of her.

"Mio-chan! Why are you crying?" Midori felt shocked after witnessing the scene in front of her. She crouched a bit, wiping Mio's tears with her hand.

"Good afternoon, Akiyama-san. Mio here's crying 'cause she's scared that she'd make a mistake for our school festival performance." Ritsu retrieved her hand from Mio's head as she explained the case.

"Oh, so what's your class going to perform for the school festival?" Midori soothingly stroke her hand on Mio's back to stop crying.

"Er.. um.." Ritsu scratched her cheek as she continued, "..Romeo and Juliet play."

"Maa, maa.. I'm quite surpised that junior high students can now perform a play nowadays." Miori smiled warmly at Ritsu, Mio stopped crying.

'Ugh.. I'm gonna blame Akane for this if it doesn't turn out right.' Ritsu sweatdropped as she laughed nervously, scratching her head as a response.

"Feeling okay now, Mio-chan?" Midori patted her daughter's head with tenderly love and care.

"Y-yeah.." Mio wiped her remaining tears with her free hand before looking at Ritsu. 'Good thing I have Ritsu to explain things right now.'

She spun her head to look at her mother, "M-mama.. can we practice now?" Mio begged for her mother's permission to let them practice for the play.

"Of course, Mio-chan! This is for your play, right?" Midori giggled lightly before standing up, pointing out the script Mio's holding.

"Well, I'm going to cook dinner now, so you can stay if you want, Ricchan." Midori winked at Ritsu before proceeding to go to the kitchen.

"Yeah.. well, let's go!" Ritsu went inside the house, removing her shoes before going upstairs towards Mio's room.

Mio nodded before she removed her shoes, going upstairs as well.

* * *

_Mio's bedroom..._

Ritsu placed her bag onto Mio's table, Mio did the same.

"So.. where do we start?" Ritsu grabbed the script Mio's holding, flicking its contents.

"We should practice the hardest part so that when we practice it completely, there'll be no more problems." Mio suggested as her voice slowly died out. 'The hardest part is the first kissing scene!' Mio blushed.

"Well, so what's the hardest part then?" Ritsu continued to flick the notebook, deciding to play dumb for now.

"I-it's.." Mio timidly grabbed the notebook from Ritsu, flipping the notebook until she came across the 'hardest part'.

"T-this one." Mio pointed out the part to Ritsu, blushing hard.

"Oh.. that. We should practice it then." Ritsu flushed a bit. 'I hope yer suggestion'll work, Akane.'

"But how?" Mio took a step back from Ritsu, gazing at her confusingly.

"Well, I should just kiss you on the cheek since it's not that obvious for the audiences, in my opinion." Ritsu stuck out her index finger to strengthen her suggestion. 'I guess I should do the first suggestion Akane gave me, then the next one.'

Mio's face reddened at the thought of her best friend kissing her on the cheek. 'H-huh? This weird feeling.. N-no! It's just a play, Mio! It's not like that I'd expect her to kiss me on the..' Mio shifted to her thoughts until she's as red as a tomato.

"Uh.. Mio, you okay?" Ritsu waved her hand in front of Mio to check if she's still listening, plus the fact that her raven-haired friend's been blushing the whole time.

Mio shooked her head to remove her thoughts, "L-let's do it!"

"Well, if ya say so." Ritsu grabbed Mio's hand and went towards the mirror.

Ritsu stopped as she turned Mio's body to face her's, "There, now we can see what we look like how the audiences view us."

"Y-yeah.." She turned her head to look at the mirror, looking at her side view.

"Like I said, a kiss on the cheek, right?" Ritsu placed her hands onto Mio's shoulders, hesitating to do the next part.

"..." Mio blushed for the umpteenth time. 'W-well, it's j-just a kiss on the cheek. There's n-no need to fret over it.'

Ritsu gulped in some air, looking at herself in the mirror before planting a kiss on Mio's cheek.

Mio closed her eyes shut as she felt her friend's lips brushing up against her cheek.

Ritsu angled a better spot as she continued gawking at the mirror, but it's still a bit obvious since it's just on the cheek.

'It's kinda embarrassing to do this if it's too long.' Ritsu started to sweat as she went on to find a better angle, but it did not work out well.

Mio started to tremble a bit. The feeling wherein your best friend continued to kiss you on the cheek is just too hard to brush off.

Ritsu slowly backed away from Mio, she sighed as she blushed a bit, "So, first's option's out of the list."

Mio decided to open her eyes, looking at Ritsu in confusion, "You mean t-there's another option for this? And why did you crossed this one o-out?"

"Yep. It's 'cause a kiss on the cheek's a bit too obvious for the audiences, now that I've saw ourselves in the mirror." Ritsu placed her hands behind her head as she tried to maintain her normal composure, averting her eyes from Mio. 'It's just a kiss on the cheek Ritsu, keep it cool.'

"T-then what is it?" Mio stuttered a bit, 'I wonder where she gets these ideas from.. and the kiss earlier is a bit embarrassing.'

"This." Ritsu grabbed both of Mio's hands and placed it on her own cheeks.

"W-what are you doing?" Mio continued to blush, not removing her hands from Ritsu's cheeks.

"We just need our faces to get close to each other, almost like a kiss. Your hands will block the audiences from viewing it, so it'll not be that embarrassing." Ritsu stated. 'Keep it cool.. keep it cool.'

"O-okay then." Mio hesitated as she moved her head towards Ritsu's own, Ritsu did the same.

Once they're both close enough, Ritsu stole a glance at the mirror to check if it's really close to a kiss, but it's still not close yet.

Ritsu looked at Mio, the latter is blushing really hard. 'She's blushing again! She's just too cute, but she's too close!'

Mio can feel Ritsu's hot breath on her lips as she continued to move slowly. 'T-this is way too embarrassing than the last one!'

Ritsu's body is starting to feel hot, but she glanced at the mirror again. 'Hm.. t-this looks too close to a kiss..'

Mio looked at her friend who is now looking at the mirror, she decided to check on herself as well. Mio widened her grey orbs as she continued to ogle their faces, 'We're.. too.. c-close..' Mio's blush never left her face ever since they started practicing.

"W-well, this one should do." Ritsu whispered as she pointed at themselves in the mirror. 'Just.. keep it cool.' Ritsu's body continued to get hotter, blushing as red like Mio's.

Mio stopped moving as well, 'It feels weird for Ritsu to talk while w-we're this.. close.' Mio stared to tremble as she removed her hands from Ritsu's cheeks.

Once she placed her hands on her sides, she finally realized that their lips are only a centimeter away from each other.

'W-we're this close already?! Okay, I can't keep it cool!' Ritsu mentally screamed inside her head as her eyes twitched in realization.

Mio's blush finally reached her ears, her heart is pounding so hard as if it's about to come out of her chest.

They stayed like that for a couple of seconds before Ritsu backed away, sitting on the edge of Mio's bed.

'That's too hot! Keep it cool, keep it cool..' Ritsu closed her eyes as she continued to remind herself inwardly. Her heart is pounding way too fast, her face remained flushed.

Mio's blush never left her face, taking in the moment that just happened. 'W-w-what just h-happened?' Mio widened her eyes in realization.

Once both of them finally recovered from the shock, Ritsu stood up and said, "Okay, I've got no more options left, so pick one."

Mio didn't reply, but she thought, 'If I pick the second option, it'll be way too embarrassing. But if I pick the first one, it'll be too obvious..' she continued to ponder until she comes up with an answer.

"So?" Ritsu anticipated that her friend will give her a straight answer.

"F..first option!" Mio shouted a bit, as she clenched both of her hands.

"Sure." Ritsu placed her hands behind her head again. 'Though it's a bit embarrassing for me to do it instead of her. But it's only a play, right?'

Mio doesn't feel convinced of Ritsu's answer, "Are sure you're okay with it, Ritsu?" Mio made sure that her friend is okay with the option.

"Of course! I am the brave 'Romeo' after all, right?" Ritsu removed her yellow headband off and placed it inside her pocket.

'W-wow..' Mio looked at her, suprised about the fact that her friend is different without the headband, so different that she can't almost recognize her because of her bangs.

"Huh? What's the matter?" Ritsu stared at Mio curiously.

"It's just that.. it feels weird that you don't have your headband on." Mio's eyes softened, 'You look cute without the headband, I just wish you shouldn't wear it anymore.' Mio couldn't find the courage to tell Ritsu what she really thinks right now.

"I knew that it's weird." Ritsu dropped her head in disappointment, staring at the ground annoyingly.

Mio took notice of this and abruptly said, "N-no! Not that kind of weird! It's just that I'm used to always having to see you with your headband on, that's all." Mio waved her hands to dismiss what Ritsu just said.

Ritsu looked up to mouth an "O" as a response. 'I guess it's my fault for always wearing my headband.'

Ritsu decided to say, "I'm only doing this for the time being, though. After the play, I'm going to wear it back again."

Mio took in her best friend's words, "So that you're used to having your bangs down for the play, right?" Mio clarified.

"Yep." Ritsu lopsidedly grinned at Mio, picking up the script on the floor because of the short event earlier.

"Well, we should use the time to practice now." Mio smiled as Ritsu gave the script to her.

"Yeah, we should 'cause I'm not use to the language type that we're all gonna say. Heh." Ritsu scratched the back of her head nervously.

Mio could only sigh in disappointment.

* * *

_Hayabusha household..._

"Akane-chan!" Akane's mom called out to her daughter, "We're leaving now! Sleep early because there's school tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, I will, mom!" Akane answered back before continuing, "..Can you tell gramps that I said I love him for me?"

"Of course, anything for our Akane-chan!" Akane's mom giggled, opening the front door.

"Don't let any strangers in, like I've said ever since you're little, okay?" Akane's dad shouted for Akane to hear.

"Okay, dad. See you tomorrow, I love you!" Akane grinned as she threw herself onto the couch, rummaging for the remote control to power the TV on.

"Take care, we love you too!" Akane's parents went outside and closed the door behind them, proceeding to go to their elder's home by car.

"Hm.. I wonder what I should do for tonight?" Akane turned sideways on the couch, propping her elbow as she placed her head on her hand.

Akane continued to scroll the TV channel by channel, boredom decided to wash over Akane.

"Hngh.. not this.. ugh.. wait, not the shopping channel!" Akane quickly pressed the arrow button on the remote to move on to the next channel.

It continued on for a few more minutes, until Akane's stomach growled.

"Maybe I should cook some omelet first." Akane stood up as she rubbed her belly to stop growling.

* * *

_Mio's bedroom, practice time..._

"Then how am I supposed to say it?" Ritsu grunted as she fell on Mio's bed, sighing in defeat.

"You should say it like this," Mio positioned herself, reading the script on her hand, "With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do that dares love attempt; therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me."

"Woah! That's perfect!" Ritsu sat up on the bed, amazed by Mio's speech right now.

"It's because I love literature.." Mio sat down beside Ritsu, continuing where she left off, "You know, that line's not really hard, so why can't you say it?"

"Because it's way too cheesy for me to say it." Ritsu looked away as she pouted, scratching her back in the process.

"You really can't stand these kind of things, huh?" Mio sighed as she smiled at Ritsu, who is backfacing her right now.

'Hehe..' Ritsu's mischievous side finally kicks in, thinking of the best way to annoy Mio right now. 'You took the lead 'cause of practice, so it's payback time!'

Ritsu decided to backface Mio for a few more minutes, until Mio grew worried about it.

"R-Ritsu? Are you mad because you can't say your lines properly?" Mio decided to point out the nearest possible reason for Ritsu to act like this.

Ritsu let out a mischievous smirk, ignoring her friend's words.

"Ritsu?"

'Initiating plan in three..' Ritsu's eyes flashed.

"Oi, Ritsu!" Mio is starting to grow impatient as she shook her sandy-haired friend's shoulder, hoping for an answer.

'Two...' Ritsu hid her grin from Mio's view.

Mio could only sigh exasperatedly, finally getting tired from seeing Ritsu's back for like... five minutes now.

'One...' Ritsu bursted into laughter inside her mind.

"Ritsu!" Mio took the chance to turn Ritsu around to finally face her.

'GO!' Ritsu tackled Mio on the bed, Mio could only grimace due to the impact.

Ritsu's left hand made its way towards Mio's side, poking it with her index finger.

"Kyah!" Mio squealed as she covered her mouth with her hands from laughing.

Ritsu grinned as she continued to poke Mio's side, until the latter couldn't contain her laughter anymore.

"Ritsu- haha! Stop it- kyaha!" Tears are forming in Mio's eyes due to excessive laughter.

"Haha! Your face is priceless, Mio!" Ritsu laughed along with Mio as her hand went upwards, tickling Mio on her neck.

"Ahaha- Ritsu! Please stop! Haha!" Mio tried her best to fend off Ritsu's hand from tickling her any further.

"Nope! You keep correcting me during practice, so it's payback time!" Ritsu ridiculously laughed as she examined her best friend's reaction.

"Well, it's you're fault for messing it up! Hahaha!" Mio locked Ritsu's hand with her head tilted sideways. Ritsu could only flinch.

Mio's mood quickly changed to playful mood, "I should return the favor, Ricchan."

'Oh noes! I know what she's gonna do!' Ritsu pulled her left hand away from Mio's neck, but it failed.

Mio just mirrored Ritsu's mischievous face as both of her hands went towards Ritsu's sides.

"Crap! Gahaha!" Ritsu guffawed as she tried her best to retrieve her hand back.

"This is what you get for ambushing me!" Mio wiped her unshedded tears with her hand before continuing to tickle Ritsu.

'When did it turned out to end up like this?' Ritsu finally succeeded in retrieving her hand back, tickling Mio as well.

"Ahahaha!" Both of them bursted into laughter before Ritsu finally stopped, "Haa! That was pretty tirin'!" Ritsu wiped the sweat forming on her forehead with her arm.

"We.. should stop it.. for now." Mio panted for air, she gawked at Ritsu on top of her. 'I feel like Ritsu's a different person without her headband, but only on the outside.' Mio sweatdropped.

"Yep.." Ritsu breathed in and out heavily, reciprocating Mio's own. "Geez.. Mio, is that even you? I mean, you almost never do this kinda stuff 'cause yer always serious." Ritsu pointed out her raven-haired friend's sudden change of behavior.

Mio replied almost breathlessly, "It's just that.. you always do this to me and.. I never get to pay you.. back, you idiot."

Ritsu pressed her body on top of Mio's, compressing the latter even more.

'R-Ritsu, what are you doing?' Mio thought, her heart beating rapidly. 'We're too close..' Mio head jerked down due to the process.

Ritsu decided to look at Mio straight in the eyes, examining her closely.

Mio reciprocated her best friend's action, her blood made its way back to her cheeks.

Amber eyes met stormy orbs..

'Her hime cut suits her really well...' Ritsu brushed her friend's black bangs aside, making a clearer view of Mio's flushed face.

'R-Ritsu...' Mio examined her companion's long bangs that are touching her face.

Ritsu leaned in next to Mio's ear as she whispered, "Y'know, you really fit your role well as 'Juliet'.."

Mio could only blush because of her friend's compliment.

Ritsu retreated her head back. 'She's too.. cute! Must.. resist!' Ritsu fought her thoughts, closing her eyes shut.

'Romeo..' Mio's eyes are starting to tremble as she tried her best to control her emotions from overflowing.

"B-Being..'Romeo' suits.. y-you well, Ritsu..' Mio replied compressedly.

Ritsu snapped her eyes open, 'I.. can't stop! She's too irresistable for this!' Her heartbeat is racing way too fast, her face feeling hot because of her companion's voice.

She glanced at Mio below her, mustering up all of her courage before she did the next..

Ritsu closed her eyes as she kissed Mio _near_ her lips.

Mio widened her eyes in shock, her heartbeat beating extremely fast, but because too much pressure.. she fainted.

Ritsu moved her head back, examining her raven-haired companion's expression with red tinge on both of her cheeks.

After a few seconds, Ritsu realized that her friend fainted.

'Looks like I went too far. Nice one, Romeo..' Ritsu sighed deeply, getting off the bed as she picked up her bag to go home.

* * *

_Hayabusha household..._

After Akane ate her omelet, she placed the dishes in the sink as she went back to the living room.

She flopped her body back to the couch, her hand searching for the outline of the remote control. After that, she pressed the power button.

But before she can scroll the channel due to boredom, she widened her eyes as she sat back up. Akane then grabbed the couch's pillow, blocking the scene from her view.

"What the-! Why'd this scene show up right now? Don't they even realize that kids are watching cinema channels like this?!" Akane groaned as she took a peek behind her pillow.

The channel in the TV is airing the famous movie, 'Romeo and Juliet'.. bed scene. Akane watched it in a bad timing.

'Geez...' Akane powered the TV off. 'Wrong timing..'

Akane went back to the kitchen to wash the dishes and decided to sleep early for the night.

* * *

**A/N: **Done! It feels good to finish another chappie even though I just updated last week lol xD

**Review Responses:**

**Fujimoto-Chiaki-789: **Another headbandless Ritsu comin' right up lol xD

You're welcome and I'll do my best!

**Yukina-Tenma: **I see what ya did there :D

Yep, but I still like Ritsu better than him.

You're right! xD

**Keeper Aki: **Thanks for pointing it out. I hope you enjoyed this chap, especially the last part.

**Faby-chan: **Here it is! I hope you've enjoyed it.

**PanicAtFanfiction: **Hah! They already did it in this chap!

Thanks for following both me and mah story! :D

* * *

Anyways, tell me what you all think about this chap in a form of a review/follow/fave, it helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!

Peace! Arf!


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